ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2007
Clinical features of primary brain tumours: a case-control study using electronic primary care records.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cancer diagnostic tools to aid decision-making in primary care: mixed-methods systematic reviews and cost-effectiveness analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce the time to diagnosis of brain tumours.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Is real world evidence influencing practice? A systematic review of CPRD research in NICE guidances.BMC health services research · 2016Pooled it
- Symptomatic diagnosis of cancer of the brain and central nervous system in primary care: a systematic review.Family practice · 2015Pooled it
- A geographical cluster randomised stepped wedge study of continuing medical education and cancer diagnosis in general practice.Implementation science : IS · 2014Trial
- A multi-centre performance evaluation of a commercially developed liquid biopsy for the earlier detection of brain tumours.ESMO open · 2026Observational
- Cost-effectiveness of proton beam therapy vs. conventional radiotherapy for patients with brain tumors in Sweden: results from a non-randomized prospective multicenter study.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2024Article
- Novel screening tool for secondary headache in acute care-A pilot study.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2024Article
- A taxonomy of early diagnosis research to guide study design and funding prioritisation.British journal of cancer · 2023Review
- Amyloids and brain cancer: molecular linkages and crossovers.Bioscience reports · 2023Review
- Underlying cancer risk among patients with fatigue and other vague symptoms: a population-based cohort study in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Investigating centrifugal filtration of serum-based FTIR spectroscopy for the stratification of brain tumours.PloS one · 2023Article
- Predicting Survival in Patients with Brain Tumors: Current State-of-the-Art of AI Methods Applied to MRI.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Isolated headache is not a reliable indicator for brain cancer: the 2-week wait pathway for suspected CNS malignancies.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2021Article
- Early diagnosis of brain tumours using a novel spectroscopic liquid biopsy.Brain communications · 2021Article
- Prediagnostic symptoms and signs of adult glioma: the patients' view.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2020Article
- Article
- Missed opportunities for diagnosing brain tumours in primary care: a qualitative study of patient experiences.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
- Symptoms in primary care with time to diagnosis of brain tumours.Family practice · 2018Article
- Health economic evaluation of a serum-based blood test for brain tumour diagnosis: exploration of two clinical scenarios.BMJ open · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAround 4500 new primary brain tumours are diagnosed in the UK each year. Symptoms of these tumours have not previously been studied in primary care.
aimTo identify and quantify the clinical features of brain tumours in primary care. DESIGN OF STUDY: Case-control study.
settingThe General Practice Research Database, UK.
methodA total of 3505 patients with primary brain tumours diagnosed between May 1988 and March 2006, and 17 173 controls, matched for age (to 1 year), sex, and general practice, were studied. Full medical records for 6 months before diagnosis were searched for reports of clinical features previously associated with brain tumours. Odds ratios were calculated for variables independently associated with cancer, using conditional logistic regression, as were the positive predictive values for patients consulting in primary care.
resultsSeven features were associated with brain tumours before diagnosis. Positive predictive values against a background risk of 0.013% were: new-onset seizure, 1.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0 to 1.4); weakness (as a symptom), 3.0% (95% CI = 1.7 to 4.9); headache, 0.09% (95% CI = 0.08 to 0.10); confusion, 0.20% (95% CI = 0.16 to 0.24); memory loss, 0.036% (95% CI = 0.026 to 0.052); visual disorder, 0.035% (95% CI = 0.025 to 0.051); and the physical sign of motor loss on examination, 0.026% (95% CI = 0.024 to 0.030); all P<0.001, except for visual disorder, P = 0.005. In a sub-analysis by age, the maximum risk of a brain tumour with headache or new-onset seizures was found in the age group 60-69 years (0.13% and 2.3% respectively).
conclusionThe findings suggest that isolated headache presented to primary care has too small a risk of an underlying brain tumour to warrant investigation at presentation. However, new-onset seizures should be investigated.
Indexed as
Identifiers
17761056PMC2151783W2111906393What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.