Alarm over ‘serious’ delays in diagnosing childhood cancer in England

Health experts have raised the alarm over “serious” delays in diagnosing children and young people with cancer, as a study reveals the number found to have the disease during the pandemic fell by almost a fifth.

The University of Oxford found a “substantial reduction in childhood, teenage and young adult cancer detection” in England last year. The research, being presented on Friday at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) festival, showed a 17% drop in cases diagnosed in the under-25s last year compared with previous years.

The impact of Covid on adults with cancer is well known. However, previously little has been known about the toll on younger patients.

As well as the fall in the overall numbers of children diagnosed with cancer, researchers found that even those whose cancer was spotted last year were more likely to have been diagnosed only after being admitted to intensive care. That suggests long delays in accessing care may have made them much sicker, experts say.

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Source: The Guardian, 12 November 2021