Cancer delays hit young sufferers

Young people with cancer are waiting months or even years for a diagnosis, experts have warned.

They say the disease should be considered the first possibility than the last in anyone showing symptoms.

Three studies are being presented at the Teenage Cancer Trust's conference in London on the delays facing teenagers and young adults before they see a specialist.

Tim Eden, professor of cancer in teenagers and young adults at the University of Manchester, will unveil one study which found that the time lapse between a child presenting with symptoms and diagnosis ranged from four to 184 weeks in the UK.

A second study found a range of two to 192 weeks, suggesting long delays before health professionals recognise something is wrong.

Prof Eden said: "It would appear that when we compare these data with studies of children with cancer, teenagers and young adults do face greater delays in diagnosis, particularly for bone and brain tumours and Hodgkin lymphoma.

"Interventions are being explored, both to educate the public, and young people in particular, to seek help for worrying symptoms and to empower them to push for referral to specialists.

"However, it would seem to be more important to raise awareness amongst professionals to recognise worrying signs and to trigger them to be more rapid in their response.

"In addition, they need to ensure simple and rapid referral pathways for investigation and subsequent treatment.

"Whether this will improve survival remains unclear but it will reduce anxiety, anger and distrust of doctors."

In the second study looking at all tumour types, the shortest wait was for those with leukaemia with an average of 4.5 weeks while the longest was for bone tumours with an average of 23 weeks.

Sam Smith, a nurse consultant working with teenagers and young adults at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, will present a third study at the conference.

It found that four out of five youngsters with cancer sought help very quickly, with only 7 per cent delaying for a matter of months.

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