Background:  Recognition of the unique care needs of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs; defined as young people aged 15 to 25 years inclusive) sparked the 2020 collaboration between the Victorian state-wide AYA cancer service and the co-located, hospital-based palliative care service with subsequent internal publication of a palliative care framework for AYAs in 2021 and incorporation of palliative care clinicians with AYA expertise into the weekly oncology multidisciplinary meeting.  This project builds on a previous review of end-of-life care for AYAs with cancer in Victoria to examine palliative care provision for AYAs in more detail and in the context of the changes above.

Aim: To characterise the recent model of palliative care provision to AYA decedents with cancer including examination of trends in referrals over time and 1) demographic and disease characteristics of AYAs; 2) nature of palliative care provision including duration of palliative care involvement, number and designation of clinicians involved, and number of clinical contacts with palliative care; and 3) healthcare utilisation in the last 30 days of life. 

Methods: This is a retrospective review of medical records of AYAs with cancer known to the state-wide AYA oncology service who died between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022.  

Findings:  Preliminary findings show referrals to the hospital-based palliative care service increasing from eight AYAs in 2020 to 21 AYAs in 2022.  There were 41 AYAs who died in the time period under investigation including AYAs who transitioned from the paediatric system or had second malignancies after childhood cancer.  Additional findings, including details of palliative care provision, are to follow.

Conclusions: This project presents benchmarking data to illustrate the current model of palliative care provision to AYAs with cancer at a quaternary cancer centre with AYA-specific oncology and palliative care expertise.