Teens with cancer face delays in diagnosis

MANCHESTER, England, June 10 (UPI) -- Three studies indicate that teens and young adults with cancer can face long delays before finally being diagnosed, British researchers said.

Study leader Tim Eden of the University of Manchester in England said the time between the first symptoms and a diagnosis for 115 patients with bone tumors ranged from four weeks to 184 weeks, with an average time of 15.2 weeks.

A second study looked at 95 patients with a variety of tumors and found that the symptom interval -- the time from first symptom to diagnosis -- ranged from two weeks to 192 weeks, with an average of 9.5 weeks.

A third study, by Sam Smith -- a nurse consultant in the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit at the Christie Hospital in Manchester -- found that out of 207 young people with cancer who took part in an interactive survey, four out of five sought medical help very quickly and 7 percent delayed for a matter of months.

"When we compare these data with studies of children with cancer, teenagers and young adults do face greater delays in diagnosis," Eden said in a statement.

The findings were presented at the Teenage Cancer Trust's Fifth International Conference on Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Medicine.