Young Adult Cancers Program Meets Unique Needs: Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, FASCO

Patients with early-onset cancer face a set of personal, financial, and emotional challenges that older patients typically do not, according to Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, FASCO, David H. Johnson Endowed Chair in Surgical and Medical Oncology and professor of medicine (hematology and oncology) at Vanderbilt.

In an interview at the Patient-Centered Oncology Care® (PCOC^®) 2026 conference hosted by The American Journal of Managed Care^® in Nashville, Tennessee, September 24-25, 2026, Eng discussed why Vanderbilt created its young adult cancers program and the resources available to patients.

Why Young Adults Need Dedicated Support

Eng said the program was created "to help address the unmet needs for all cancer patients that are less than 50 years of age." She contrasted these patients with the average patient in the US, who is 66 years old, an age that is essentially retirement for most individuals; those patients have generally established their careers and families and are mostly settled financially.

Young adults, by comparison, "are in the midst of their career," Eng said. "They may be single. They may be about to [get] married. They may be starting a family." They face obstacles including finances, job security, and family planning.

Body Image, Fertility, and Emotional Health

Eng emphasized that these concerns are also deeply personal. Depending on the patient, an ostomy can raise body image issues that affect emotions and mood.

"Psychologically, it's very taxing," she said. Programs for early-onset patients must account for all of these factors.

Fertility preservation is a priority, she said, if it has not already been addressed by the surgical team or whichever physician saw the patient first.

"You need to be prepared for those questions, which is not something we would be discussing with a 66-year-old average-age patient," Eng said.

Resources Beyond Academic Centers

For patients who are not near an academic center or in a larger city, Eng pointed to national organizations, some of which offer virtual participation. Gilda's Club, which was created based on Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian carcinoma at a young age, offers counseling groups and other services. Fight Colorectal Cancer can provide navigation for patients with colorectal cancer, and the Colon Cancer Coalition is another option.

The goal, Eng said, is to make sure patients "don't feel alone." She added, "We don't want them to feel that they have to navigate this alone."