Article

Press release May 7^th 2025

In Europe, about 150,000 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 39 develop cancer each year. What is alarming is that the number of new cases in Western European countries is particularly high compared to the rest of the world. Moreover, the chances of recovery in this age group have not improved as much as they have for children or for adults over the age of 40. Between 10 and 25 percent of treated adolescents and young adults suffer a relapse or develop other tumors later on as an undesired result of the therapy.

An interdisciplinary research team of experts from Europe's leading radiation therapy centers, headed by Prof. Esther Troost, Dean at the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden (MF TUD), Director of the Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology at University Hospital Dresden (UKD) and Head of Image-Guided High-Precision Radiotherapy - OncoRay, will therefore explore which approaches in radiation therapy can improve treatment outcomes and prevent the occurrence of secondary tumors. The consortium will receive almost one million Euro in funding over the next four years from the European Partnership for Radiation Protection Research (Pianoforte) and Dresden itself additionally EUR 100.000 from the Saxon Ministry of Science (SMWK) for its research project “KAYAC+ - Knowledge on Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer.”