Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in children, teenagers and young adults (0-24 years old) in the United Kingdom. Often there are delays in diagnosing these cancers which contributes to the poor outcomes.
Early recognition of cancers in this age group is hard because symptoms are often not specific to cancer and mimic other conditions that normally get better. In addition, cancer in patients under age 24 is rare, so clinicians may not consider an investigation immediately. One way to overcome this challenge is to better understand the early symptoms of cancer in young people, particularly in GP surgeries, where most people first seek help.
Dr Defne Saatchi, working with Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology & General Practice, at NDPCHS, analyzed data from the QResearch database, examining records of 3,186 cancer cases and compared them to 50,576 young people without cancer. This large-scale approach allowed the researchers to detect even rare symptoms associated with uncommon cancers.
The study identified 29 symptoms significantly associated with cancer in young people, including 12 symptoms not previously reported in a primary care setting and 17 symptoms identified as potentially occurring at earlier stages of cancer development. Certain symptom combinations were found to be more predictive of cancer than individual symptoms alone and distinct symptom patterns were observed for different cancer types, such as leukaemias, lymphomas, and brain tumours.
The authors found that while many early cancer symptoms are common and non-specific, such as cough or abdominal pain, others like seizures and lumps in the head/neck or testicles may offer opportunities for earlier diagnosis.
These findings provide insight into how cancer presents in young people visiting their GP which can help raise awareness among clinicians and the public, potentially leading to earlier diagnosis and better outcomes. This represents a significant step forward in our understanding of how cancer manifests in young people and provides valuable evidence that can inform clinical practice and potentially save lives through earlier detection.
Read the full paper, 'Identifying early symptoms associated with a diagnosis of childhood, adolescent and young adult cancers: a population-based nested case-control study' in The British Journal of Cancer.