A new study is examining the shortcomings of after-treatment care for young cancer patients in Atlantic Canada.

'It's so lonely. It really is lonely.'— Shaun Campbell, cancer survivor

Bo Miedema, research director at the Dalhousie family medicine teaching unit in Fredericton, says previous studies she has done have shown a particular problem in rural Atlantic Canada.

"We have no specific cancer centres that deal with this unique population," Miedema told CBC News on Tuesday. "Most people really do think that it's a disease for older people; this group tends to fall a little bit between the cracks."

It's something Shaun Campbell of Charlottetown is too familiar with. Twelve years ago, at age 26, Campbell was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He still had many issues to deal with after his radiation treatment was over — loss of work, a loss of friends, possible infertility, and a constant fear the cancer would come back — but he had no help with any of them.

"You've got this fleet of doctors and people working on you, and then all of a sudden the treatment's over and you go home," said Campbell.

"It's so lonely. It really is lonely."

Miedema said these feelings are normal, and so, unfortunately, is the lack of support. Her new study will look at those support gaps in greater detail. She plans to interview 60 survivors of cancer, diagnosed in their 20s and 30s, to get details of the after-treatment care they were offered, and what they were not able to get.

Campbell said this research is welcome.

"I think it's about time they did something like that," he said. "It's good to see, and I hope it helps people in the future."

Miedema hopes the study will lead to a new model of cancer care for younger patients.