Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16227326›Full record

ArticleThorax2005

What are the clinical features of lung cancer before the diagnosis is made? A population based case-control study.

W Hamilton, T J Peters, A Round, D Sharp

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Thorax, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 128 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
128citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

128 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Understanding the role of GPs' gut feelings in diagnosing cancer in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing evidence.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020
    Pooled it
  3. Weight loss as a predictor of cancer in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Lung cancer in symptomatic patients presenting in primary care: a systematic review of risk prediction tools.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2017
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Positive predictive values of ≥5% in primary care for cancer: systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2010
    Pooled it
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68 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

W HamiltonAcademic Unit of Primary Health Care, Department of Community Based Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1AU, UK. w.hamilton@bristol.ac.uk
T J Peters
A Round
D Sharp

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOver 38,000 new cases of lung cancer occur each year in the UK. Most are diagnosed after initial presentation to primary care, but the relative importance of the various clinical features is largely unknown.

methodsA population based case-control study was undertaken in all 21 general practices in Exeter, Devon, UK (population 128 700). 247 primary lung cancers were studied in subjects aged over 40 years diagnosed between 1998 and 2002 and 1235 controls matched by age, sex and general practice. The entire primary care record for 2 years before diagnosis was coded using the International Classification of Primary Care-2. Univariable and multivariable conditional logistic regression analyses were used to identify and quantify clinical features independently associated with lung cancer. The main outcome measures were odds ratios and positive predictive values for these variables.

resultsSeven symptoms (haemoptysis, loss of weight, loss of appetite, dyspnoea, thoracic pain, fatigue and cough), one physical sign (finger clubbing), and two abnormal investigation results (thrombocytosis and abnormal spirometry) were associated with lung cancer in multivariable analyses, as was cigarette smoking. After excluding variables reported in the final 180 days before diagnosis, haemoptysis, dyspnoea and abnormal spirometry remained independently associated with cancer.

conclusionsThis study provides an evidence base for selection of patients for investigation of possible lung cancer, both for clinicians and for developers of guidelines.

Indexed as

AdultAgedCase-Control StudiesEnglandEpidemiologic MethodsFemaleHumansLung NeoplasmsMaleMiddle AgedPatient Acceptance of Health Care

Identifiers

PMID16227326
PMCPMC1747254

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.