Question: What are the characteristics and context of adolescent and young adult patients with cancer who use medical assistance in dying (MAID)?
Findings: In this retrospective cohort study including 34 adolescent and young adult patients with cancer, symptom burden rose in the year before MAID, with sharp increases beginning around month 5. Seventeen individuals received late specialist palliative care, meaning adolescent and young adult patients with cancer endured a higher symptom burden and waited 1 to 2 months longer from peak symptom severity to accessing MAID than the general cancer population.
Meaning: Health care professionals may use advanced disease diagnosis and/or patient-reported symptom scores to trigger timely specialist palliative care referrals, which may reduce suffering.