Beyond Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Care: Care Experiences of Patients Aged 25-39 Years Old in the UK National Health Service

AIMS

Adolescents and young adults aged 15-39 years with cancer face unique medical, practical and psychosocial issues. In the UK, principal treatment centres and programmes have been designed to care for teenage and young adult patients aged 13-24 years in an age-appropriate manner. However, for young adults (YAs) aged 25-39 years with cancer, little access to age-specific support is available. The aim of this study was to examine this possible gap by qualitatively exploring YA care experiences, involving patients as research partners in the analysis to ensure robust results.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted a phenomenological qualitative study with YAs diagnosed with any cancer type between ages 25 and 39 years old in the last 5 years. Participants took part in interviews or focus groups and data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results were shaped in an iterative process with the initial coders and four YA patients who did not participate in the study to improve the rigor of the results.

RESULTS

Sixty-five YAs with a range of tumour types participated. We identified seven themes and 13 subthemes. YAs found navigating the healthcare system difficult and commonly experienced prolonged diagnostic pathways. Participants felt under-informed about clinical details and the long-term implications of side-effects on daily life. YAs found online resources overwhelming but also a source of information and treatment support. Some patients regretted not discussing fertility before cancer treatment or felt uninformed or rushed when making fertility preservation decisions. A lack of age-tailored content or age-specific groups deterred YAs from accessing psychological support and rehabilitation services.

CONCLUSIONS

YAs with cancer may miss some benefits provided to teenagers and young adults in age-tailored cancer services. Improving services for YAs in adult settings should focus on provision of age-specific information and access to existing relevant support.

Luminescent liquid crystalline hybrid materials by embedding octahedral molybdenum cluster anions with soft organic shells derived from tribenzo[18]crown-6

Crown ethers and their derivatives are versatile building blocks for the design of supramolecular materials. They can be functionalized at will and are well known for their abilities to complex with alkali cations. Here, we show that emissive lanthanide free hybrid materials can be generated by using such building blocks. The organic tribenzo[18]crown-6 central core was functionalized via six-fold Suzuki cross-coupling as a key reaction with three o-terphenyl units which could be converted into their corresponding triphenylenes by the Scholl reaction, leading to novel liquid-crystalline columnar materials. Selected tribenzo[18]crown-6 o-terphenyls could interact with emissive ternary metal cluster compound salts to generate hybrid materials combining the properties of both moieties. Due to synergistic effects and despite the anisometry of the cluster compounds, individual properties such as liquid-crystalline phase stability of the organic part and emission abilities of its inorganic counter-part are enhanced in the hybrid compounds.

Phosphorescent columnar hybrid materials containing polyionic inorganic nanoclusters

Red NIR phosphorescent hybrid materials with columnar liquid crystalline properties show high luminescence thermal stability and sensitivity to their surrounding atmosphere.

Cyanobiphenyl versus Alkoxybiphenyl: Which Mesogenic Unit Governs the Mesomorphic Properties of Guanidinium Ionic Liquid Crystals?

A series of phenylguanidinium salts 3·X, which are linked via an alkoxy spacer either to a 4-decyloxy- or 4-cyano-substituted biphenyl mesogen, was prepared and the mesomorphism studied. A decyloxybiphenyl core and a spacer of at least C6 chain length were required for mesophase formation. Replacement of the chloride counterion by other anions like bromide or tetrafluoroborate improved the thermal stability of the mesophase. A comparison of substitution pattern (meta v. para) on the phenyl ring revealed decreased melting and clearing points for the bent cationic head group. All guanidinium ionic liquid crystals 3 displayed only smectic A (SmA) phases. A packing model is assumed where the molecules in a bilayer stack over each other in opposite direction with interdigitated terminal decyloxy groups and spacers.