Young patients facing 'significant' delay in bowel cancer diagnosis
One in five young people with bowel cancer waited for more than a year to be diagnosed with the potentially deadly disease, a major new study suggests.
It also found that a fifth of young people had to see their GP five times or more before they were eventually referred to a specialist.
Experts say the findings highlight the "shocking variations in treatment, care and support for younger people" with the illness.More than 400 bowel cancer sufferers under 50 years-old were surveyed for the research - the largest ever poll of its kind among the age group.
It kills around 16,000 men and women in the UK every year, according to figures compiled by Cancer Research UK.
Early diagnosis is key to treatment and survival rates, but young people are often not aware of the symptoms while doctors overlook the possibility of bowel cancer because of the patient's age, the charity said.
The Never Too Young survey also found that only one in five younger bowel cancer patients knew they could be at risk of developing bowel cancer at their age.
More than half (57%) of people surveyed were not aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer prior to being diagnosed. And even where they were aware of symptoms, more than a quarter (27%) put off seeing their GP for more than three months after developing symptoms.