Diagnostic timeliness in adolescents and young adults with cancer

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are believed to experience prolonged intervals to cancer diagnosis, but there is insufficient evidence quantifying this hypothesis and identifying high-risk patient subgroups. A cross-sectional analysis of the BRIGHTLIGHT cohort was carried out to further investigate time to diagnosis. The BRIGHTLIGHT cohort includes AYAs aged 12-24 years recruited within an average of 6 months since diagnosis from 96 hospitals across England between 2012 and 2015. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 830 participants. Of patients with available information, 27% had a patient interval of more than a month and 35% had 3 or more consultations with a GP. The median symptom onset-to-diagnosis interval was 62 days. Compared with males, females were more likely to have 3 or more consultations and had a longer median symptom onset-to-diagnosis interval. Furthermore, AYAs with lymphoma or bone tumors were most likely to have 3 or more consultations before diagnosis. These findings provide an insight into diagnostic timeliness for AYAs with cancer and help identify subgroups at a higher risk. Further research is needed to understand the reasons behind these intervals. Read the full article