Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25918332›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2015

Quantifying the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in symptomatic primary care patients aged ≥40 years: a large case-control study using electronic records.

Elizabeth A Shephard, Richard D Neal, Peter W Rose, Fiona M Walter, William T Hamilton

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 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

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. 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
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Observational
  6. Microcytosis as a risk marker of cancer in primary care: a cohort study using electronic patient records.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Recognising laryngeal cancer in primary care: a large case-control study using electronic records.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019
    Article
  12. Disease-related factors affecting timely lymphoma diagnosis: a qualitative study exploring patient experiences.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019
    Article
  13. Selection of men for investigation of possible testicular cancer in primary care: a large case-control study using electronic patient records.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Assessing risk and improving survival in lymphoma.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2015
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Elizabeth A ShephardUniversity of Exeter Medical School, Exeter.
Richard D NealNorth Wales Centre for Primary Care Research, Bangor University, Wrexham.
Peter W RoseDepartment of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford.
Fiona M WalterDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.
William T HamiltonUniversity of Exeter Medical School, Exeter.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNon-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the sixth most common cancer in the UK; approximately 35 people are diagnosed and 13 die from the disease daily.

aimTo identify the primary care clinical features of NHL and quantify their risk in symptomatic patients. DESIGN AND

settingMatched case-control study using Clinical Practice Research Datalink patient records.

methodPutative clinical features of NHL were identified in the year before diagnosis. Results were analysed using conditional logistic regression and positive predictive values (PPVs).

resultsA total of 4362 patients aged ≥40 years, diagnosed with NHL between 2000 and 2009, and 19 468 age, sex, and general practice-matched controls were studied. Twenty features were independently associated with NHL. The five highest risk symptoms were lymphadenopathy, odds ratio (OR) 263 (95% CI = 133 to 519), head and neck mass not described as lymphadenopathy OR 49 (95% CI = 32 to 74), other mass OR 12 (95% CI = 10 to 16), weight loss OR 3.2 (95% CI = 2.3 to 4.4), and abdominal pain OR 2.5 (95% CI = 2.1 to 2.9). Lymphadenopathy has a PPV of 13% for NHL in patients ≥60 years. Weight loss in conjunction with repeated back pain or raised gamma globulin had PPVs >2%.

conclusionUnexplained lymphadenopathy in patients aged ≥60 years produces a very high risk of NHL in primary care. These patients warrant urgent investigation, potentially sooner than 6 weeks from initial presentation where the GP is particularly concerned.

Indexed as

Electronic Health RecordsAdultAgedAge FactorsFemaleHumansLymphoma, Non-HodgkinMaleMiddle AgedOdds RatioPrimary Health CareRetrospective StudiesRisk AssessmentSurvival RateUnited Kingdomcancerclinical featuresdiagnosislymphadenopathynon-Hodgkin lymphomaprimary health care

Identifiers

PMID25918332
PMCPMC4408518

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.