New Campaign Aims to Speed Up Childhood Cancer Diagnosis and Save Lives
A new public and professional awareness campaign, Child Cancer Smart, has been launched by CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association, with the aim of shortening diagnosis times for children and teenagers with cancer. The campaign is updating and strengthening guidance for healthcare professionals across the country, with new guidelines and resources planned for each of the main childhood cancer types.
The campaign’s goal is to help GPs and other healthcare professionals recognize and diagnose bone cancer faster in under-18s. This comes after research showed long waits for diagnosis, with bone tumours having the longest times to diagnosis in the Childhood Cancer Diagnosis Study. Only 50% of children and young people with bone cancer were diagnosed within 12 and a half weeks, compared to kidney cancer, which had the shortest time to diagnosis.
According to Dr Shaarna Shanmugavadivel, a paediatric emergency medicine doctor and CCLG Child Cancer Smart Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham, “Early diagnosis of bone tumours can be both life- and limb-saving.” She explains that the level of treatment needed at a later stage of the cancer can have a serious long-term impact on survivors. This makes it crucial to speed up diagnosis for better outcomes.
Dr Tim Ritzmann, Honorary Consultant Paediatric Oncologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and clinical lead for Child Cancer Smart, emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis. “Late diagnosis may result in more radical surgeries as tumours may grow bigger and spread. Earlier treatment could result in better outcomes, preventing amputations and improving survival from this type of cancer,” he says.
To support healthcare professionals, Child Cancer Smart has released new resources accessible through the CCLG website. These include updated referral guidelines to help GPs recognize symptoms and know when to act, a decision-support tool to guide faster, more confident clinical decisions, and a comprehensive list of the most common bone cancer symptoms.
Ashley Ball-Gamble, Chief Executive of CCLG and co-author of the Childhood Cancer Diagnosis Study, says, “Our aim is to make the diagnosis process as straightforward as possible.” He adds that the new decision-support tool, built on evidence-based referral guidelines, gives clear and practical recommendations to refer, review, or reassure. The hope is that these resources will help healthcare professionals feel more confident in recognizing potential cases of bone cancer and taking the right action at the right time.
In addition to the clinical guidance, Child Cancer Smart has also published resources for the public, highlighting the top symptoms of bone cancer and encouraging families to seek medical advice if they have concerns. This is especially important as bone cancer is more common among teenagers and young adults, a demographic that the Childhood Cancer Diagnosis Study found to have particularly struggled with speedy diagnoses.
The impact of early diagnosis is evident in Olly Liddle’s story. Diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 13, he credits his GP’s swift action with potentially saving his life. “Cancer was the last thing I thought my injury could have been,” he says. “However, my cancer was found to be extremely aggressive. If I hadn’t been sent for an X-ray right away by my GP, the situation could have deteriorated, and I may not be here now.”
Olly’s experience highlights the life-saving impact of early referral. However, as Child Cancer Smart stresses, every week matters. Even with a quick diagnosis, Olly underwent a leg amputation, thwarting his ambition of playing professional rugby.
Nicola Shilton, whose son Oliver was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma at the age of 10, also understands the importance of early diagnosis. Despite being diagnosed faster than the average, Oliver’s cancer relapsed in 2023, and he passed away in June 2024. Nicola wishes that people knew more about childhood cancer, its diagnosis, and the risks of relapse.
She says, “A quick diagnosis is so important, especially for childhood cancers. Even though we feel that Oliver’s cancer was caught as early as possible, it had already started to spread. This significantly increased his chances of relapse and meant some of the treatment options were no longer viable.”
While Oliver’s parents were thankful for how the healthcare professionals managed their concerns throughout diagnosis, Nicola says other parents had a “harder time.” She hopes that Child Cancer Smart can speed up diagnosis for all families, adding, “More people being aware of childhood cancer symptoms means that more children have their cancers caught sooner – and so hopefully have a greater chance of survival.”
For more information on bone cancer and Child Cancer Smart, please visit CCLG’s website at https://www.cclg.org.uk/bone-tumours.
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.