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Development of a Core Outcome Set (COS) for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer: Core Outcome Set for adolescents and young adults with cancer

Development of a Core Outcome Set (COS) for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer: Core Outcome Set for adolescents and young adults with cancer
Development of a Core Outcome Set (COS) for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer: Core Outcome Set for adolescents and young adults with cancer
Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) aged 15-39 diagnosed with cancer are faced with unique challenges which impact key developmental milestones and can create complex care needs. The aim of this study was to reach international consensus on the minimum set of outcomes to measure through the development of a Core Outcome Set (COS). The COS development followed published methodological standards. A literature review and interviews with AYAs with cancer and healthcare professionals (HCPs) generated a comprehensive list of 129 outcomes, spanning clinical and patient-reported outcomes relevant to AYAs with cancer. A three-round online Delphi survey involving three stakeholder groups globally, was implemented to reach international consensus. Overall, 262 respondents participated in the Delphi survey, and 48.0% completed three survey rounds. Fifty-nine outcomes met consensus in round 3 and were taken forward to the consensus meeting. The final COS consists of 20 outcomes, including two on-treatment specific domains and three off-treatment specific domains. This study developed an AYA-specific COS which, when implemented in clinical care and research, will improve the relevance of research findings, enhance care delivery, and enable consistent data synthesis across studies. Future efforts will focus on refining measurement methods and ensuring global applicability.
Adolescents and young adults, AYAs, oncology, core outcome set, COS, COMET, PROs
1470-2045
Darlington, Anne-Sophie
472fcfc9-160b-4344-8113-8dd8760ff962
Way, Kirsty Mollie
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Collaco, Nicole B
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Cairns, Charlotte
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Hanebaum, Simone
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Janssen, Silvie
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Kosir, Urska
55ccfc27-6014-4f36-93ac-0fb66fa951c4
Mccabe, Martin G.
47a6cbf8-2782-4066-bc57-deee72a02084
Stark, Daniel
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Sodergren, Samantha
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van der Graaf, Winette
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Husson, Olga
2248f04b-e92b-4669-9bf5-1671b5c54174
Darlington, Anne-Sophie
472fcfc9-160b-4344-8113-8dd8760ff962
Way, Kirsty Mollie
302744cd-065b-4278-978d-ea0941743317
Collaco, Nicole B
d7a41227-8aa4-4bbb-a380-980824736945
Cairns, Charlotte
f3dae8b8-657f-420c-ad2a-ad9c0a22fecb
Hanebaum, Simone
c3ecf0c6-1d9d-4703-9701-b8891b60f519
Janssen, Silvie
2c1665f2-f6d3-416b-b85d-162e652b5eee
Kosir, Urska
55ccfc27-6014-4f36-93ac-0fb66fa951c4
Mccabe, Martin G.
47a6cbf8-2782-4066-bc57-deee72a02084
Stark, Daniel
a79eb009-e5d5-46a2-b079-41b313dbd815
Sodergren, Samantha
d66fc3fa-2c98-403d-8ae5-410ef95de46e
van der Graaf, Winette
64aebe0c-2bd1-45fd-ab04-6b608a1c4754
Husson, Olga
2248f04b-e92b-4669-9bf5-1671b5c54174

Darlington, Anne-Sophie, Way, Kirsty Mollie, Collaco, Nicole B, Cairns, Charlotte, Hanebaum, Simone, Janssen, Silvie, Kosir, Urska, Mccabe, Martin G., Stark, Daniel, Sodergren, Samantha, van der Graaf, Winette and Husson, Olga (2025) Development of a Core Outcome Set (COS) for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer: Core Outcome Set for adolescents and young adults with cancer. Lancet Oncology. (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) aged 15-39 diagnosed with cancer are faced with unique challenges which impact key developmental milestones and can create complex care needs. The aim of this study was to reach international consensus on the minimum set of outcomes to measure through the development of a Core Outcome Set (COS). The COS development followed published methodological standards. A literature review and interviews with AYAs with cancer and healthcare professionals (HCPs) generated a comprehensive list of 129 outcomes, spanning clinical and patient-reported outcomes relevant to AYAs with cancer. A three-round online Delphi survey involving three stakeholder groups globally, was implemented to reach international consensus. Overall, 262 respondents participated in the Delphi survey, and 48.0% completed three survey rounds. Fifty-nine outcomes met consensus in round 3 and were taken forward to the consensus meeting. The final COS consists of 20 outcomes, including two on-treatment specific domains and three off-treatment specific domains. This study developed an AYA-specific COS which, when implemented in clinical care and research, will improve the relevance of research findings, enhance care delivery, and enable consistent data synthesis across studies. Future efforts will focus on refining measurement methods and ensuring global applicability.

Text
ACCEPTED_COS paper Revised - Accepted Manuscript
Restricted to Repository staff only until 28 August 2026.
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 28 August 2025
Keywords: Adolescents and young adults, AYAs, oncology, core outcome set, COS, COMET, PROs

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 507259
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507259
ISSN: 1470-2045
PURE UUID: 156e8ce8-a23b-4e8d-b26e-07b97be63c31
ORCID for Anne-Sophie Darlington: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4387-7278
ORCID for Kirsty Mollie Way: ORCID iD orcid.org/0009-0001-2287-1398
ORCID for Nicole B Collaco: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1398-9105
ORCID for Samantha Sodergren: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8755-146X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 02 Dec 2025 18:05
Last modified: 03 Dec 2025 03:08

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Contributors

Author: Kirsty Mollie Way ORCID iD
Author: Charlotte Cairns
Author: Simone Hanebaum
Author: Silvie Janssen
Author: Urska Kosir
Author: Martin G. Mccabe
Author: Daniel Stark
Author: Winette van der Graaf
Author: Olga Husson

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