Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity devoted to improving the lives of young people with cancer. We believe that teenagers shouldn’t stop being teenagers because they have cancer. Usually placed on a children’s ward or with elderly patients, young people often feel isolated when facing a cancer diagnosis. We build specialist units in NHS hospitals where young people with cancer are treated with others their own age, in an environment suited to their needs.
Teenage Cancer Trust units are designed to be as close as possible to a young person’s normal life, helping them cope with gruelling treatment and long stays in hospital. They also bring teenagers with cancer together so they can support each other.
We also fund Teenage Cancer Trust Nurse Consultants and youth support workers, across the country. Experts in teenage and young adult cancer care, they provide clinical expertise, develop services and research, deliver professional education and training and represent and advocate, nationally and internationally on behalf of Teenage Cancer Trust.
Key facts
• Every day in the UK, six young people (13-24 year olds) are told they have cancer. That’s approximately 2,100 young people a year. This is a rising figure.
• Young people often receive hospital treatment in inappropriate facilities catering for children or the elderly. Up to 16 years, a teenager will be treated in a paediatric ward alongside children. After 16, the same teenager will be treated in an adult ward with elderly patients.
• Teenage Cancer Trust focuses on the needs of young people with cancer between the ages of 13-24 by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. These units are designed to give the very best chance of a positive outcome. As well as state-of-the-art facilities to keep patients occupied during long stays in hospital, the units provide an environment where they can meet others in a similar situation.
• Teenage Cancer Trust has built 17 units and plans to build a further 16 so that all young people needing hospital treatment for cancer across the UK have access to the dedicated, specialist support we provide.
