Time to diagnosis of pediatric cancer and factors that require attention

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the time to diagnosis of pediatric cancer and associated comorbidities during cancer therapy. This was a prospective observational study with a 20-month follow-up of 146 pediatric patients diagnosed with cancer and treated in northeastern Brazil. The mean age of the participants was 8.2 (± 5.4) years; most of them were males (n = 86; 58.9%) and had been diagnosed with hematologic neoplasms (n = 72; 49.3%). The initial signs and symptoms presented by the patients were associated with the cancer diagnosis (P < 0.05). The median time to diagnosis was 35.0 days. Deaths were more frequent in patients with acute lymphoid leukemia (P = 0.036), and the occurrence of metastasis was significantly related to death (P < 0.001). The pediatric cancer patients who participated in our study had their signs and symptoms misdiagnosed and treated as common childhood issues. However, while the cancer diagnosis was late, the time to diagnosis was not associated with the occurrence of metastasis, need for amputation/disarticulation, or death.