Transition of Care in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology: Global Models, Survivorship, and Equity

The transition from paediatric to adult oncology services represents one of the most structurally vulnerable moments in the AYA cancer journey, a handover that most health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are not yet equipped to manage consistently or equitably. In LMICs, structured transition pathways, long-term follow-up programmes, and dedicated AYA models of care remain limited or absent; the gap between paediatric and adult services is often widest where the need is greatest.

Globally, AYA patients navigating this transition often experience fragmented care, disrupted post-treatment continuity, and inequitable access to coordinated inter-service care. At the same time, implementation science, patient advocacy, and health-system innovation are reshaping what AYA-centred transition care can look like across diverse settings. The SIOP Global Health Network (GHN) AYA Working Group is currently developing a global consensus initiative on transition of care, creating timely momentum for evidence, models, and perspectives that can strengthen practice across paediatric, adult, and survivorship services worldwide.

This Research Topic aims to create an international platform for the science, practice, and policy of transition of care for AYA patients with cancer, with a primary focus on what transition looks like when infrastructure, workforce, and policy vary widely, and where the gap between paediatric and adult services is widest. This collection is designed to generate and synthesise the evidence base informing the SIOP Global Health Network AYA Working Group’s ongoing global consensus on transition of care, making it directly actionable for health systems, policymakers, and clinical programmes worldwide. The collection will bring together global perspectives, implementation models, consensus approaches, and resource-adapted strategies from diverse health system contexts. Rather than addressing the broader AYA care continuum, it focuses specifically on the structural, programmatic, and health-system dimensions of the transition moment, documenting how handover between services is designed, implemented, and sustained across settings of varying resource levels. The ultimate goal is to provide a reference body of work that strengthens transition practices, informs health-system planning, and contributes to the global agenda for improving AYA cancer outcomes.

We welcome submissions addressing:

o Resource-adapted implementation of transition programmes across LMIC and fragmented health systems

o Transition versus transfer of care, and longitudinal care pathway design following AYA service handover

o Transition readiness and competency-based preparation

o Post-treatment care continuity, long-term medical surveillance in the post-transition period, and late-effects monitoring

o Inter-service care coordination: integrated models linking paediatric oncology, adult oncology, primary care, and survivorship services

o Structural barriers to transition, advocacy, and policy development for AYA oncology populations

o Psychosocial continuity across the transition, including nursing coordination and patient navigation

o Digital health and telemedicine as enablers of transition pathways, registries, and data tools relevant to AYA oncology service handover

This Research Topic complements the 58th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP 2026), San Antonio, Texas, USA, 15-18 September 2026, and the work of the SIOP GHN AYA Working Group.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Transition of care, oncology transition, paediatric cancer, AYA oncology, AYA cancer policy, Global health equity, Survivorship, adolescent and young adult oncology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.