Age-dependent survival rates among patients with sarcomas -- with the exception of Kaposi Sarcoma (KS) -- correlated with clinical trial participation rates.

Cancer survival rates, overall, have improved dramatically over the past 25 years, but the same cannot be said for patients between 15 and 45 years of age. Survival has improved little over the 35-year time period in that age group. Explanations for the finding have included differences in physical tolerances to therapy, tumor biology, treatment options, health insurance coverage, and availability of new treatments and protocols.

15-45 Year Age Group One of Least Studied

Previous studies investigating individual cancer types, such as leukemia, have shown that age-dependent survival may be linked to rates of participation in, and availability of, clinical trials.

The 15-45 year age group is one of the least studied and also the least likely to be treated at a large health care institution that offers clinical trials. Participation in cancer clinical trials has been shown to improve survival. Young adults with Kaposi Sarcoma have shown significant survival and mortality benefits after improvements in clinical trial participation.

Trial Participation Correlates with Survival

Archie Bleyer, M.D. of the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and colleagues investigated whether KS and non-KS sarcoma survival and mortality rates were related to participation in clinical trials.

The researchers found participation in a clinical trial correlated with survival improvement in both KS and non-KS sarcomas. For soft-tissue and bone sarcomas, patients between 15 and 45 years demonstrated the least improvement.

In this group, the lowest clinical trial participation rates were also noted in the group between 20-44 years. In contrast, KS patients between 30 and 44 years demonstrated the greatest survival increase. In this group, the greatest clinical trial participation rates also were identified in the group between 35-44 years.

"Based on the study reported here and others in leukemias, brain tumors, and cancer in general, lack of clinical trial participation (and of the increased knowledge of tumor biology that derives from modern clinical trials) offers one explanation" for the poor cancer survival improvements in young adults, the authors conclude.