ArticleBritish journal of cancer2013
Measures of promptness of cancer diagnosis in primary care: secondary analysis of national audit data on patients with 18 common and rarer cancers.
Article in British journal of cancer, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 106 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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106 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Quantifying Weight Loss Prior to Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancer medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Quantitative faecal immunochemical tests to guide colorectal cancer pathway referral in primary care. A systematic review, meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Primary Care Referral Delays in Oral Cancer Diagnosis: A Meta-Analysis.Oral diseases · 2025Pooled it
- 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
- Quantifying intervals to diagnosis in myeloma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2018Pooled it
- Diagnostic value of symptoms of oesophagogastric cancers in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2015Pooled it
- Developing and testing a web-based intervention to encourage early help-seeking in people with symptoms associated with lung cancer.British journal of health psychology · 2019Trial
- Electronic Trigger-Based Intervention to Reduce Delays in Diagnostic Evaluation for Cancer: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2015Trial
- Implementing direct access to low-dose computed tomography in general practice--method, adaption and outcome.PloS one · 2014Trial
- Patient delay in oral cancer in North-Western Spain: Where do we stand?Medicina oral, patologia oral y cirugia bucal · 2026Observational
- Lung cancer care pathways and journeys: insights from patients at the National Cancer Institute in Mexico.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Fusing data from CT deep learning, CT radiomics and peripheral blood immune profiles to diagnose lung cancer in a cohort of patients experiencing symptoms.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Characterisation of adult patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms and their journey to diagnosis.BJC reports · 2026Article
- Earlier diagnosis of patients with brain tumour.Practical neurology · 2025Article
- Missed opportunities for earlier cancer diagnosis within specific pathways to emergency presentation.Future oncology (London, England) · 2025Article
- GPs' acceptability and feasibility for using point-of-care tests for cancer in primary care: a qualitative interview study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Article
- Challenges, Difficulties, and Delayed Diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Diagnostic Delay in Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Review.Cancers · 2025Review
46 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Abstract
backgroundEvidence is needed about the promptness of cancer diagnosis and associations between its measures.
methodsWe 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.
resultsAmong 13,035 patients with any of 18 different cancers, most (82%) were referred after 1 (58%) or 2 (25%) consultations (median intervals 0 and 15 days, respectively) while 9%, 4% and 5% patients required 3, 4 or 5+ consultations (median intervals 34, 47 and 97 days, respectively) (Spearman's r=0.70). The association was at least moderate for any cancer (Spearman's r range: 0.55 (prostate)-0.77 (brain)). Patients with cancers with a higher proportion of three or more pre-referral consultations typically also had longer median intervals (e.g., multiple myeloma) and vice versa (e.g., breast cancer).
conclusionThe number of pre-referral consultations has construct validity as a measure of the primary care interval. Developing interventions to reduce the number of pre-referral consultations can help improve the timeliness of cancer diagnosis, and constitutes a priority for early diagnosis initiatives and research.
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