April is Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month (TYACAM) – an opportunity for charities and the young people we support to come together and raise awareness of the unique set of challenges facing this age group after being told they have cancer.
About 2,300 young people aged 15-24 are diagnosed with cancer each year and have to face the huge impact of its treatment.
Nineteen charities have come together for the third year of TYACAM to raise awareness of signs and symptoms in teenagers and young adults (TYA) and the issues they face and, most importantly, support young people to share their experiences and ensure their voices are heard.
We’ll also be sharing how we – as individual organisations and as a collective – support young people with cancer, and, with the theme of this year’s TYACAM being ‘innovation’, will be shining a light on some of the new and inventive work being done to improve their cancer experience from the point of diagnosis, through treatment and beyond.
Shaumya Kularajan, TYACAM steering group patient representative, said: “I’m really proud to be involved in TYACAM 2025 – it gets bigger and better every year!
“It’s so important to have an awareness month focused on teenagers and young adults because we face a unique set of challenges on top of the weight of a cancer diagnosis and have a lot of life left afterwards to deal with the long-term effects and psychological impacts of cancer and its treatment.
“I hope that TYACAM will allow us to celebrate progress and build on the work done so far, and that we’re able to all learn from each other and raise awareness in the public.
“Innovation is a crucial part of finding new ways to make an unimaginable diagnosis less painful, with kinder, better treatments and the holistic support that young people so deeply deserve.”
Ashley Ball-Gamble, Chief Executive at CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association and Chair of the Children and Young People’s Cancer Coalition, said: “As Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month continues to grow, it allows us to further raise awareness of the unique issues young people face when diagnosed with cancer.
“As the UK’s professional association for those involved in their treatment and care, CCLG brings together the brightest minds in research, health and social care, to foster collaboration and drive progress.
“Coming together and working collaboratively is the only way we can address some of the biggest challenges facing teenagers and young adults with cancer. In April, we want to give young people with cancer the opportunity to share their experiences and be assured that they are being heard – and to know that, together, we are all working toward a better future.
“That’s why, along with our partner charities, we’ve collectively chosen to highlight the innovative work being done to improve the lives of young people with cancer, by ensuring they get the treatment, care and support that they not only need but deserve.”
The charities supporting Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month 2025 are:
CCLG: The Children’s & Young People’s Cancer Association, Bone Cancer Research Trust, Cancer Research UK, Candlelighters, Dragonfly Cancer Trust, Ella Dawson Foundation, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, It’s In The Bag, Lennox Children’s Cancer Fund, The Little Princess Trust, Lymphoma Action, Neuroblastoma UK, Project Youth Cancer, Sarcoma UK, Solving Kids Cancer, Teens Unite Fighting Cancer, The Tom Bowdidge Foundation and Young Lives vs Cancer.
Search #TYACAM to follow Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month and find out how the charities are raising awareness and how you can get involved this April.
