Webinar: The AYA Gap: Rethinking brain tumour care across the lifespan divide

The AYA Gap: Rethinking brain tumour care across the lifespan divide

Date: October 29 2026
Time: 12pm to 1pm EST
Presented by: Dr. Mary Jane Lim-Fat, Neuro-oncologist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

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Description:
Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with brain tumours fall between paediatric and adult neuro-oncology, and their care often reflects that gap. Tumours in this age group have their own epidemiological, histological and molecular profile, including paediatric-type entities that present in adults and adult-type gliomas that arise early. Patients also face problems specific to their stage of life: disrupted education and careers, threats to fertility, psychosocial and neurocognitive effects that unfold across decades of survivorship, limited access to clinical trials, and fragmented transitions between paediatric and adult services. Our talk reviews the biological and molecular features that set AYA brain tumours apart and outlines the systemic and developmental barriers to optimal care. It proposes a practical, multidisciplinary framework for age-appropriate management, from diagnosis and molecular characterization through treatment, trial enrolment, and long-term survivorship.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe the unique epidemiological, biological and molecular features of brain tumours in AYA

2. Identify systemic and developmental challenges specific to AYA neuro-oncology care

3. Apply a framework for multidisciplinary age-appropriate management of AYA brain tumour patients

About the speaker:

Dr. Mary Jane Lim-Fat, MD, MSc, FRCPC, is a neuro-oncologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. She is the CNS Site Lead at the Odette Cancer Centre and an Associate Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute where she leads several academic registries and clinical trials in neuro-oncology. Her academic work focuses on precision therapeutics in brain tumors, specifically under the following themes: 1) adolescent and young adult (AYA) neuro-oncological care, 2) molecular biomarkers and targeted therapeutics, and 3) investigation and translation of non-invasive biomarkers of response and resistance in CNS oncology. Dr. Lim-Fat is the co-lead of the Canadian AYA Neuro-Oncology Network (CANON) and has served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Neuro-Oncology from 2022-2025.