Young patients with cancer need support when it comes to scholastic performance, which can be an empowering and motivating force during the challenges of cancer treatment, UF Health Cancer Center researchers have found.
The study , presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2025 Annual Meeting , identified four areas of support that need to be integrated into adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer care: help with obtaining school accommodations, support with losing extracurricular activities that play a role in identity formation, navigating a disruption in their academic trajectory including career trajectory, and losing their connection to peers.
"These four areas are support gaps that AYAs, parent caregivers and clinicians all agree are direly needed," said lead author Carla L. Fisher, Ph.D., M.S.W. , a professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and a member of the UF Health Cancer Center. "Parents and AYAs also noted that scholastic opportunities are motivating and empowering and thus critical to their well-being. That further supports the need to attend to scholastic performance in AYA oncology care."
People tend to think of school or college as an extra burden during cancer treatment or survivorship care, Fisher said. But AYAs and parents identified how important it is, particularly as AYAs develop independence and a sense of self.
"There's certainly pauses that have to happen depending on treatment plans, but this adds to the idea that parents and AYAs living with cancer want and need supportive care that helps them navigate the stresses that come with an academic or career disruption," Fisher said.
Other studies have shown how a cancer diagnosis disrupts AYAs' typical developmental trajectory, potentially creating more mental health risks and financial insecurities long term.
"Supporting their academic needs can help mitigate those negative impacts," Fisher said.
To reach their conclusions, the research team compared the lived experiences of three groups: AYAs diagnosed with cancer between ages 15 and 29, parents caring for these patients, and clinicians treating them in an AYA oncology program.
"Incorporating these three different and key stakeholder voices strengthens our research and allows us to better identify what the supportive care needs are," Fisher said.
To mobilize resources to support AYAs and parents facing these challenges, Fisher and co-author Raymond Mailhot, M.D. , continue to investigate and establish scholastic performance as a meaningful patient-centered metric and functional outcome for cancer survivorship. They are the first investigative team in the United States to directly link patients' medical data to performance data collected by a school district.
In addition to Fisher and Mailhot, a clinical associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Florida, UF Health Cancer Center members Carma Bylund, Ph.D. , and Joanne Lagmay, M.D. , are co-authors of the new study. External collaborators included Maria Sae-Hau, Ph.D. and Elisa S. Weiss, Ph.D. (researchers at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) and Diliara Bagautdinova, Ph.D. (Karmanos Cancer Institute). Interview data was drawn from several larger studies that were made possible in part by funding granted to Fisher, Bylund and Bagautdinova from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, National Cancer Institute and UF Health Cancer Center.
With funding from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Fisher and Bylund recently created a free communications skills program for adult children caregivers of a loved one with a blood cancer. With support from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, they are adapting the program for other family caregivers, including one for parent caregivers of AYAs living with a blood cancer.
