I was only sixteen.

This short piece describes a new project developed by the adolescent patients with cancer involved in the Youth Project at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan, Italy. This is a scheme dedicated to young cancer patients with the dual aim of optimizing medical aspects of their care and promoting a holistic approach to their needs. "I was only sixteen" is a ballad, written in English by the patients, that became a song with the help of professional musicians (and among them international star Tony Hadley, former frontman of Spandau Ballet). This song sounds like hymn to life for teenagers with cancer in the world. It emphasizes again the value of giving young patients novel creative ways to express themselves.

Playing cards designed by young cancer patients with the Youth Project in Milan.

This short piece briefly describes a creative project undertaken by a group of adolescent and young adult cancer patients as part of our Youth Project (a scheme dedicated to young cancer patients with the dual aim of optimizing medical aspects of their care and promoting a holistic approach to their needs, including the organization of artistic activities). In this project, young cancer patients designed their personalized playing cards, with kings receiving chemo, queens wearing bandanas, jacks dressed as nurses, and jokers as doctors. The playing cards, with the patients' own words, contain a little bit of these young cancer patients' stories in them.

"Based on a true story" podcast: a journey into the world of young patients with cancer.

This article describes a creative project undertaken by a group of adolescent and young adult patients with cancer as part of the Milan's Youth Project, a scheme dedicated to young patients with cancer with the dual aim of optimizing medical aspects of their care and promoting a holistic approach to their needs. The project was based on audio recordings and focused on the theme of "the journey," such as a holiday or an adventure, or as a metaphor of the cancer experience. The podcast installments were published on the main streaming platforms. Talking about their disease and how they feel is of importance for young patients to process their feelings surrounding the cancer experience and to find the inner resources they need to facilitate coping.

My mind is still mine: a self-portrait in a photography project for adolescents and young adults with cancer.

This commentary describes the unusual self-portrait contributed by a 26-year-old receiving treatment for relapsing medulloblastoma to a photography project undertaken by a group of patients as part of the Youth Project, a scheme dedicated to young cancer patients with the dual aim of optimizing medical aspects of their care and promoting a holistic approach to their needs. The article briefly describes how creative projects can play an important part in giving young people with cancer new ways to tell their stories and express their feelings. There is still a limited understanding of the specific needs of adolescents and young adults with cancer, and it is important to draw attention to them and to the need to devise a person-centered approach to cancer patients in this age group.