Cancer-related communication is inherently challenging. Healthcare professionals need to convey complex medical information to patients frequently in the context of considerable uncertainty. Several important social factors and processes can further complicate these discussions. Firstly, patients and families understandably enter into cancer-related conversations with considerable fear and anxiety. Secondly, in the healthcare-system context, the power dynamics at play in the patient-clinician relationship remain inherently imbalanced. Societal taboos around talking about mortality and death can further interfere with effectively addressing these topics on the part of both patients/families and clinicians. For children and adolescents, their young age and minor status adds an additional layer of vulnerability to their involvement in cancer-related communication. This can lead many families to shield children from distressing cancer-related conversations, a situation in which clinicians may unwittingly (or knowingly) collude. However, even when families attempt to avoid difficult discussions, young people often understand and perceive more than their families realise. Further, young people can experience considerable anxiety and emotional isolation when they perceive either that information is being withheld from them, or that they are not able to talk openly with their families about cancer. By contrast, when provided with age-appropriate opportunities to engage in cancer-related communication, research indicates that young people are capable of understanding and coping with complex medical information, including topics related to treatment options and decision-making, prognosis, and end-of-life. In this context, it is critical that clinicians are able to work with, and around, the unique barriers involved in cancer-related communication with young people and their families. This talk will highlight what is currently known about best-practice communication with young people, in particular when it comes to addressing some of the most challenging conversations of the cancer trajectory - those surrounding prognosis, likelihood of cure, and other palliative and end-of-life topics. Strategies relevant to the entire multidisciplinary healthcare team will be highlighted.