'Chances to spot my son's bone cancer were missed'

Nicola Maxwell believes opportunities were missed to diagnose her son, Kieran, earlier

A mum whose teenage son died after being diagnosed with bone cancer has called for more awareness of the disease's symptoms.

Kieran Maxwell, from Heighington, County Durham, was told he had Ewing sarcoma in 2010 and had his left leg amputated before his death, aged 18, in 2017.

His mother, Nicola, said it took 14 months for Kieran to be sent for an X-ray after first seeing a doctor about pains.

More than 150 youngsters in the UK are diagnosed with bone cancer each year, according to The Children & Young People's Cancer Association (CCLG), but fewer than 50 of those patients survive for 10 or more years.

Ms Maxwell, who now lives in Darlington, said: "Bone cancer was never even mentioned by doctors as a possibility because it's so rare in young people.

"The guidelines said you had to have persistent bone pain and see a doctor three times to be sent for an X-ray, but Kieran's pain was intermittent and he had no other symptoms.

"He wasn't losing weight and he was still active. They put it down to growing pains.

"I believe it could have been caught earlier. Chances were missed."

The amputation of Kieran's left leg in 2011 appeared to have been successful in treating the disease and, using a prosthetic leg, the following year he took part in the Olympic Torch relay ahead the games being staged in London.

Stumbling to the ground as he carried it through Bishop Auckland, he carried on after being helped up.

'Poor' survival rate

Then, in 2013, doctors found cancer had spread to Kieran's lungs and in 2016 to his heart.

It was, Ms Maxwell says, a blow that seemingly "came out of nowhere" as he had achieved several personal bests in sporting competitions just a couple of months earlier.

He set up the Kieran Maxwell Legacy charity in the hope of funding a researcher to look into the illness.

Kieran took part in a range of sports with the help of a prosthetic leg

Ms Maxwell added: "It is very difficult to treat relapsed bone cancers and survival is very poor. Early diagnosis has a positive impact on survival and the chance of recurrence drops quite significantly.

"I often wonder, if Kieran had been diagnosed earlier, would we have had the chance to save his leg and his life?"

Signs and symptoms

Bone cancer can affect any bone, but most cases develop in the long bones of the legs or upper arm.

Osteosarcoma is the most common type, mostly affecting people under 20, while Ewing sarcoma most commonly affects people between 10 and 20.

Chondrosarcoma tends to affect adults aged over 40.

The main symptoms include:

• Persistent bone pain that gets worse over time and continues into the night

• Swelling and redness (inflammation) over a bone, which can make movement difficult if the affected bone is near a joint

• A noticeable lump over a bone

• A weak bone that breaks more easily than normal

• Problems moving around – for example, walking with a limp

Source: NHS

Early treatment 'essential'

CCLG says about one in 10 patients wait more than three months after noticing symptoms before talking to a healthcare professional, and then often face further delays before a diagnosis is reached.

The charity's CEO, Ashley Ball-Gamble, believes raising awareness among health professionals is "essential to ensuring no child or young person's symptoms are overlooked, and that treatment can begin as early as possible".

It has funded research by the University of Nottingham stressing the need for earlier diagnosis and treatment.

Prof David Walker, senior author of the paper, explained: "Efforts to improve outcomes for children with bone tumours have not led to improvements in cure rates or disability rates for nearly two decades.

"It is time to look at whether accelerating diagnosis could change this static state of affairs."