Abstract:Background:Evidence is needed about the promptness of cancer diagnosis and associations between its measures.Methods:We analysed data from the National Audit of Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care 2009–10 exploring the association between the interval from first symptomatic presentation to specialist referral (the primary care interval, or ‘interval' hereafter) and the number of pre-referral consultations.Results:Among 13 035 patients with any of 18 different cancers, most (82%) were referred after 1 (58%) or 2 (… Show more
“…4,27 A recent study from the UK, also based on GP-collected data, reported differences in the number of pre-referral consultations for different cancers, but the study did not investigate why. 28 This study adds important new knowledge to possible reasons why these differences exist.…”
“…4,27 A recent study from the UK, also based on GP-collected data, reported differences in the number of pre-referral consultations for different cancers, but the study did not investigate why. 28 This study adds important new knowledge to possible reasons why these differences exist.…”
“…Lyratzopoulos et al 22,23 found that many patients with cancer have several primary care visits before getting a diagnosis of cancer, but that 82% were referred after the first or second consultation; this varied for different types of cancer. Hansen et al 24 found that 3 weeks was the median patient delay.…”
Section: Comparison With Existing Literaturementioning
“…For both cancers, 5-year survival is relatively poor, as many are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Diagnostic delays are common, with 29% and 36% of patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer respectively having three or more primary care consultations before diagnosis; [1][2][3] furthermore, 22% and 33% of patients are diagnosed with oesophageal and gastric cancer respectively following emergency presentation. 4 An estimated 600 deaths in the UK from oesophagogastric cancer annually are deemed 'avoidable' by comparison with mean European figures.…”
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