CANCER is now claiming the lives of more teenagers than ever before - and the growing numbers are going largely undetected, Manchester experts have warned.
Research by a genetic cancer expert at Manchester University has proved that cancer is on the up in teenagers and young people and it is the biggest cause of death after accidents.
But despite the alarming rise, patients aged between 13 and 24 are being ignored because of their awkward age group which falls between services for children and adult cancer care.
The research by Professor Jillian Birch at the university's Paediatric and Familial Cancer Group was unveiled by her colleague, child cancer expert Professor Tim Eden yesterday.
Her research looking at cancer rates among teenagers between 1979 and 2000, found that around 1,500 teenagers and young adults are diagnosed with cancer a year in England alone.
In the past 21 years the cancer rate has increased from 15.4 cases per 100,000 people to 19.8 in 100,000- an increase of 1.2 per cent a year.
It is not known what has caused the increase, but Professor Birch thinks genes may be to blame.
Leukaemia is still the most common cancer among 13 and 14-year-olds - accounting for 22 per cent of cases, followed by lymphoma, which is the most common cancer between the age of 15 and 24.
Though cancer in teenagers is still relatively rare, the figures presented at the Teenage Cancer Trust's (TCT) international conference on adolescent cancer has sparked calls for the government to rethink teenage healthcare.
Chairwoman of the TCT, Myrna Whiteson, claims teenagers and young adults are neglected, ignored and "defined out of existence".