- Early-onset bowel cancer patients perceive age bias as a barrier to diagnosis for the deadliest cancer in people aged 25-44.
- Latest Australian research finds younger people may spend between 3 months and 5 years seeing multiple doctors before diagnosis. They may make 10 or more visits to GPs.
- Over the past three decades, there has been a 266% increase in bowel cancer incidence rates in adolescents and young adults (15- 24 years).
Latest Australian research* reveals younger people with bowel cancer symptoms find themselves self-advocating as the only consistent and reliable resource for overcoming age bias, barriers to diagnosis, and optimising outcomes for the deadliest cancer in those aged 25-44.
Published in the BMJ Open and BMC Primary Care, the studies are the first to investigate the perspectives of early-onset bowel cancer patients' regarding ways to improve experiences of care in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Chief Investigator, Dr Klay Lamprell, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, said 'Young people with bowel cancer say the same the world over. Because they are young, they are overlooked for bowel cancer.'
'The research found younger people may spend between three months and five years seeing multiple doctors before diagnosis. They may make ten or more visits to GPs.'
