Recent epidemiological studies indicate the rate of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies among younger patients is increasing, mainly due to colorectal cancer. There is a paucity of data regarding the magnitude of treatment-related symptoms, psychosocial issues and potential unmet needs in this population.
Perl et al BMC Cancer (2016) 16:630 DOI 10.1186/s12885-016-2676-4 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Young patients and gastrointestinal (GI) tract malignancies - are we addressing the unmet needs? G Perl1, S Nordheimer1, S Lando2, C Benedict3, B Brenner1,2, S Perry1,2, G Shmoisman1, O Purim1, L Amit1, S M Stemmer1,2 and I Ben-Aharon1,2* Abstract Background: Recent epidemiological studies indicate the rate of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies among younger patients is increasing, mainly due to colorectal cancer There is a paucity of data regarding the magnitude of treatment-related symptoms, psychosocial issues and potential unmet needs in this population We aimed to characterize the needs of this population to evaluate whether unmet needs could be targeted by potential intervention Methods: Female and male patients diagnosed with cancer of the gastrointestinal tract