A new campaign was launched in June to help parents and healthcare professionals spot the signs of brain tumours in children and young people.  HeadSmart aims to speed up diagnosis rates and raise awareness of brain tumour symptoms, to reduce life-limiting disabilities and ultimately save lives.

Around 500 children and young people a year are diagnosed with a brain tumour - nearly ten a week - and a quarter of all child cancers occur in the brain. Survival rates have improved over the past 20 years but brain tumours remain the leading cause of cancer deaths in children. The symptoms of a brain tumour can often be similar to those of other illnesses; as a result they are frequently mistaken for less serious conditions. It can take up to three months for a child to be diagnosed in the UK – three times longer than in other countries including the USA.  Delays in diagnosis contribute to a higher death rate and lifelong disability, which child brain tumour survivors are ten times more likely to suffer from than other children.

HeadSmart is a new joint campaign by the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust (SDBTT), the Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham (CBTRC) and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and hat aims to raise awareness of brain tumour symptoms by helping parents and health professionals spot the signs of brain tumours in children and young people.  To do this the HeadSmart campaign has launched a range of resources, including a new website, leaflets and a pocket-sized ‘symptoms card’. These provide information for doctors, parents, carers and young people about how to spot the signs of a possible brain tumour.

Founder of the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust Neil Dickson said: “Having taken 9 months for our own daughter to be diagnosed with a brain tumour, and receiving many calls from parents who experienced similar delays, we strongly believe that more should be done to reduce the time taken for a diagnosis, and that is why Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust is a partner in the HeadSmart campaign. Tragically this comes too late for Samantha, but by increasing the awareness of symptoms among parents and healthcare professionals, it doesn’t need to be too late for others.”

Professor David Walker, Professor of Paediatric Oncology at the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre, said: “Brain tumours are fortunately rare, but they do happen, and it can be difficult for doctors to diagnose.  The most important thing is that parents and family doctors know the symptoms of child brain tumours and make sure that possible cases are diagnosed as quickly as possible”.

Dr Jan Dudley, Chair of the RCPCH Clinical Standards Committee, Executive of HeadSmart project board, said: “The UK lags behind other developed countries in the time taken for brain tumours to be diagnosed. The HeadSmart campaign aim of increasing public and professional awareness of brain tumours in children is crucial in addressing this imbalance.”

To find out more visit www.headsmart.org.uk