Haematology Specialist Registrar, Charlotte O’Sullivan, is in the second year of her Doctor of Medicine (MD) postgraduate degree at Trinity College Dublin. Charlotte’s MD is focusing on Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer in Ireland and is supervised by Professor Owen Smith.

‘This research hopes to help us better understand adolescent and young adult cancer in Ireland and support the changing landscape of AYA cancer care.’

The adolescent and young adult (AYA) group in Ireland is defined as individuals aged 16-24 years of age. It is widely recognised that the traditional models of cancer care do not meet the needs of this unique group of patients. In recent years, there have been significant advances in AYA Cancer care in Ireland. This research hopes to help us better understand adolescent and young adult cancer in Ireland and support the changing landscape of AYA cancer care.

Charlottes planned research is broken in to three strands. Firstly, she will conduct a retrospective review of National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) data of Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Epidemiology. Charlotte will study data of patients aged 16-25 years, diagnosed with cancer in Ireland between 2002 and 2018. Her analysis will look at the variations in incidence, disease type, treatment and survival by age, sex and geographical location of young people with cancer across Ireland.

The second strand of the research project will look specifically at the experience of Haematological cancers in young people across three of the newly designated AYA Cancer Centres, CHI Crumlin Hospital, St James’s Hospital and University Hospital Galway. Data will be compared between young adolescents, aged 13-16, treated at the National Children’s Hospital and older adolescents and young adults treated at two of our Irish Cancer Centres. There will be a specific focus on fertility preservation and clinical trial enrolment.

Thirdly, Charlotte will conduct a survey of healthcare professionals involved in the care of AYA’s with cancer to assess their current knowledge of AYA cancer and the unique needs of this group of patients and identify areas where additional training is required.

Charlotte is enjoying the postgraduate experience at Trinity. In particular, she appreciates the opportunity to combine her clinical expertise with academia and will bring a specialised perspective with her when she returns to complete her haematology training at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI).

Note: If you would like further information on the project or if a participant would like to request for their data not to be included in the study, please contact Dr Charlotte O’Sullivan (email: osullich@tcd.ie). Please note, it will not be possible to withdraw individual patient data from the study after May 1st, as aggregate data analysis will have started.’