Because people are less likely to be diagnosed quickly
31% of people with blood cancer have to visit their GP three or more times before being diagnosed. Louise shares her story of delayed diagnosis.
Lack of awareness leads to late diagnoses
Lack of awareness of blood cancer symptoms among both the public and healthcare professionals is leading to late diagnoses and avoidable deaths.
The Cancer Patient Experience Survey shows that 16% of people with blood cancer wait at least three months between first thinking something might be wrong and seeking medical attention, and one in thirty of them wait over a year.
We know that half of UK adults cannot name a single blood cancer symptom; it stands to reason that if more people knew about blood cancer and its symptoms, more people would seek medical attention sooner.
When people do reach out to their GP, they are often not diagnosed quickly enough. In fact, almost a third (31%) of people with blood cancer have to visit their GP three or more times before being diagnosed, whereas in breast cancer this figure is only 7%.
This delay is one of the reasons that 30% of blood cancer cases are diagnosed after presenting to the NHS as an emergency. This is compared with just 3% in breast cancer and 7% in prostate cancer.
Heidi Smith, Support Services Nurse:
"Late diagnoses are almost always due to symptoms not being considered urgent. Blood cancer is never at the front of people's brains, often it's way in the back, and when it's diagnosed it then seems obvious. We need to empower people by raising awareness of common symptoms, enabling them to advocate for their own health, whilst ensuring GPs have blood cancer embedded into their brains so no matter how small the symptom, it registers as a red flag worth investigating."
The sooner the diagnosis, the better the outcome
Research breakthroughs over the last few decades mean that there are now better treatments for blood cancer than ever before. But for these to be effective, in many cases, it’s vital that people receive treatment as quickly as possible.
We believe that to get people diagnosed quickly, we must raise the profile of blood cancer and by proxy its symptoms. Among both the general public and healthcare professionals, we are much more likely to be able to raise awareness of the symptoms of blood cancer, rather than the multiple symptoms of each different type of blood cancer.
We can also increase our awareness by talking about blood cancer, which affects 40,000 people a year in the UK, as opposed to talking about many different types of blood cancer, which each affect a relatively small number of people each year.
Blood cancer symptoms
- Unexplained weight loss
- Unexplained bruising or bleeding
- Lumps or swellings
- Shortness of breath
- Drenching night sweats
- Infections that are persistent, recurrent or severe
- Unexplained fever
- Unexplained rashes or itchy skin
- Pain in your bones, joints or stomach
- Tiredness that doesn’t improve with rest or sleep
- Paleness
Knowing the symptoms saves lives
If we all familiarise ourselves with the above symptoms, we can not only be our own advocates, but allies to people affected by blood cancer. This will also ensure that no one leaves it too late to go visit the GP, and when they do go, they’re given the tests and treatment they need with no delays.
