GuidelineBritish journal of cancer2012
The Aarhus statement: improving design and reporting of studies on early cancer diagnosis.
Guideline in British journal of cancer, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 436 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
436 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of factors associated with the patient and diagnostic intervals in gastric cancer.Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association · 2026Pooled it
- Primary Care Referral Delays in Oral Cancer Diagnosis: A Meta-Analysis.Oral diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Socioeconomic factors impacting treatment delays in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review.Cadernos de saude publica · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The effect of time before diagnosis and treatment on colorectal cancer outcomes: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.British journal of cancer · 2023Pooled it
- Delay in the diagnosis of paediatric brain tumours: a systematic review.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2023Pooled it
- Duration of the patient interval in breast cancer and factors associated with longer delays in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Psycho-oncology · 2023Pooled it
- The duration of intervals on the oral cancer care pathway and implications for survival: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Clinical Delays and Comparative Outcomes in Younger and Older Adults with Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2022Pooled it
- The patient, diagnostic, and treatment intervals in adult patients with cancer from high- and lower-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Association between time-to-treatment and outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review.Thorax · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Factors affecting the decision to investigate older adults with potential cancer symptoms: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Pooled it
- Time to diagnosis and treatment in younger adults with colorectal cancer: A systematic review.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- The Association Between Treatment Interval and Survival in Patients With Colon or Rectal Cancer: A Systematic Review.World journal of surgery · 2021Pooled it
- Health system factors that influence diagnostic and treatment intervals in women with breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Conflicting Guidelines: A Systematic Review on the Proper Interval for Colorectal Cancer Treatment.World journal of surgery · 2021Pooled it
- Five year mortality in an RCT of a lung cancer biomarker to select people for low dose CT screening.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Targeted encouragement of GP consultations for possible cancer symptoms: a randomised controlled trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Trial
- Time to diagnosis and treatment and breast cancer outcomes in young women: a systematic review protocol.MethodsX · 2026Article
376 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Early diagnosis is a key factor in improving the outcomes of cancer patients. A greater understanding of the pre-diagnostic patient pathways is vital yet, at present, research in this field lacks consistent definitions and methods. As a consequence much early diagnosis research is difficult to interpret. A consensus group was formed with the aim of producing guidance and a checklist for early cancer-diagnosis researchers. A consensus conference approach combined with nominal group techniques was used. The work was supported by a systematic review of early diagnosis literature, focussing on existing instruments used to measure time points and intervals in early cancer-diagnosis research. A series of recommendations for definitions and methodological approaches is presented. This is complemented by a checklist that early diagnosis researchers can use when designing and conducting studies in this field. The Aarhus checklist is a resource for early cancer-diagnosis research that should promote greater precision and transparency in both definitions and methods. Further work will examine whether the checklist can be readily adopted by researchers, and feedback on the guidance will be used in future updates.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.