Clinical trial · Interventional
Symptom Management for YA Cancer Survivors
Improving Symptom Management for Survivors of Young Adult Cancer
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Symptom interference is common for survivors of young adult cancer (aged 18-39 at diagnosis) and impacts their abilities to achieve normative life goals (e.g., education, careers, independence, romantic/social relationships) as well as adhere to recommended follow-up care. Assistance with symptom management has been rated by young adult survivors as an important and unmet healthcare need; however, skill-based symptom management interventions have typically been tested among older cancer survivors and have not targeted the unique developmental needs of those diagnosed as young adults. The proposed research advances the health and wellbeing of young adult cancer survivors by creating a developmentally appropriate hybrid in-person/mHealth behavioral symptom management intervention which addresses variables (i.e., symptoms and symptom interference) consistently linked to significant social, economic, and health burden.
Conditions
Conditions (10)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breast Cancer | Malignant Breast Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Endocrine Cancer | Malignant Endocrine Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Fatigue | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Germ Cell Tumor | Germ Cell Tumor | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.90 |
| Hematologic Cancer | Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Cell Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Melanoma | Melanoma | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
| Pain | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Symptom Management for Young Adult Cancer Survivors | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Behavioral Symptom Management for Young Adult Cancer Survivors
- description
- The intervention provides systematic training in cognitive and behavioral coping skills (e.g., activity-rest cycling, cognitive defusion, relaxation training) delivered over the course of 8 sessions (12 therapy hours). By employing these strategies, participants learn to adjust their behaviors and emotions as well as interact differently with their thoughts in the service of better managing symptoms.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Behavioral Symptom Management for Young Adult Cancer Survivors
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Waitlist Control
- description
- Waitlist control participants will receive the intervention and receive systematic training in cognitive and behavioral coping skills approximately 6 months into their participation in the study.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Behavioral Symptom Management for Young Adult Cancer Survivors
Primary outcomes (6)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 39 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Young Adult Cancer Survivors Participating in Intervention Development Interviews Eligibility Criteria * Diagnosed with hematologic, breast, gastrointestinal, or endocrine cancers, melanoma, or germ cell tumors * Diagnosed with cancer as a young adult * Under the care of a medical provider at the Duke Cancer Institute * Completed curative treatment involving multimodal therapy within the last five years * Able to speak and read English * Able to give informed consent Exclusion Criteria * Nonambulatory * Major mental illness, i.e., schizophrenia * Untreated or uncontrolled mental illness, i.e., bipolar * Residence greater than 100 miles from the research site Medical Providers Participating in Intervention Development Interviews Eligibility criteria o Provide care to young adult cancer survivors at the Duke Cancer Institute Young Adult Cancer Survivor User Testers Eligibility Criteria * Diagnosed with hematologic, breast, gastrointestinal cancers, or endocrine cancers, melanoma, or germ cell tumors * Diagnosed with cancer as a young adult * Under the care of a medical provider at the Duke Cancer Institute * Completed curative treatment involving multimodal therapy within the last five years * Able to speak and read English * Able to give informed consent Exclusion Criteria * Nonambulatory * Major mental illness, i.e., schizophrenia * Untreated or uncontrolled mental illness, i.e., bipolar * Residence great than 100 miles from the research site RCT Participants Eligibility Criteria: * diagnosed with cancer as a YA (aged 18-39) * diagnosis of hematologic, breast, endocrine or gastrointestinal cancer, melanoma, or germ cell tumor * receiving care at the Duke Cancer Institute * completed curative treatment involving multimodal therapy within the last 2 years * able to speak/read English; and able to give informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * non-ambulatory * major mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia) * untreated or uncontrolled mental illness (i.e., bipolar disorder)
References
Publications (2)
- DERIVEDDorfman CS, Shelby RA, Stalls JM, Thomas SM, Arrato NA, Herold B, Somers TJ, Keefe FJ, Winger JG, Vilardaga JP, Oeffinger K. Improving symptom management for survivors of young adult cancer: rationale and study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2024 Jun 8;10(1):87. doi: 10.1186/s40814-024-01510-7. PMID 38851732
- DERIVEDDorfman CS, Shelby RA, Stalls JM, Somers TJ, Keefe FJ, Vilardaga JP, Winger JG, Mitchell K, Ehren C, Oeffinger KC. Improving Symptom Management for Survivors of Young Adult Cancer: Development of a Novel Intervention. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 2023 Aug;12(4):472-487. doi: 10.1089/jayao.2022.0100. Epub 2022 Sep 30. PMID 36178972