Abstract
BACKGROUND: In 2024, approximately 84,100 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) between 15 and 39 years old received a cancer diagnosis. AIMS: Given their unique psychosocial, economic, and clinical stressors, we examined whether AYA cancer patients living in deprived neighborhoods have a higher risk of suicide when compared to those in the least deprived neighborhoods. MATERIALS & METHODS: Our sample comprised 486,374 AYA cancer patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) dataset between 2006 and 2020. We use Cox proportional hazard models to test the relation between quintiles of neighborhood deprivation, from Q1 (most deprived) to Q5 (least deprived), and survival months until suicide mortality from the time of cancer diagnosis. RESULTS: We find that AYA cancer patients living in more deprived neighborhoods (Q1, Q2, Q4) have a higher risk of suicide when compared to those in the least deprived neighborhoods (Q5) (Q1: HR-1.82 [1.14-2.90]; Q2: HR-1.95 [1.35-2.81]; Q4: HR-1.48 [1.05-2.07]). DISCUSSION: Mental health services and monitoring from treatment through survivorship may support suicide prevention efforts for young cancer patients. CONCLUSION: Early identification of high-risk AYA cancer patients living in deprived areas may help target suicide prevention interventions.