medwireNews: The BRIGHTLIGHT study has found that adolescent and young adult cancer patients, including those with testicular cancer and other germ cell tumors, present with a wide range and combination of cancer symptoms.
The cohort of 803 English patients aged 12–24 years at time of diagnosis included 155 patients with germ cell and trophoblastic neoplasms, 77% of whom had testicular cancer, as well as patients with leukemia, lymphoma, carcinoma, central nervous system or bone tumors and soft tissue sarcoma.
As reported in JAMA Network Open, approximately 90% of germ cell cancer patients had between one and three symptoms, such as lump or swelling (74%), unexplained pain (42%), and extreme tiredness (21%), followed by weight loss (10%), headache (9%), dizziness (9%), night sweats (9%), and lymphadenopathy (7%).
A quarter of germ cell cancer patients had symptoms for more than 1 month before seeking help. This was true most commonly for patients presenting with unusual symptoms occurring in less than 2% of the BRIGHTLIGHT cohort, such as vomiting or breathlessness (56%), followed by night sweats (54%), bruising/bleeding (50%), rash/itching (50%), and headaches (50%), but also included 28% of those with unexplained pain and 23% with a lump or swelling.
Lead investigator Monica Koo, from University College London in the UK, told medwireNews that the BRIGHTLIGHT study reveals a “substantially higher symptom prevalence” than previously reported for adolescent and young adult cancer patients.
“Further work in this area could contribute to early diagnosis strategies for younger people, who often experience prolonged times to diagnosis,” she suggested.
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