ArticleBMC cancer2018
Predictive values of upper gastrointestinal cancer alarm symptoms in the general population: a nationwide cohort study.
Article in BMC cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying Novel Biomarkers Ready for Evaluation in Low-Prevalence Populations for the Early Detection of Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Systematic Review.Advances in therapy · 2021Pooled it
- PINK1 deficiency exacerbates age-related bone loss in association with enhanced inflammatory adipocyte differentiation.Genes & diseases · 2027Article
- Use of free blood in the stomach to diagnose gastric mucosal lesions prior to endoscopy: the Sanguis-filum.BMC research notes · 2026Article
- Upper gastrointestinal bleeding as a warning sign of gastrointestinal cancer.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Assessing age-related risks of gastrointestinal pathologies: a comparative study of gastroscopy outcomes across decades.Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2024Article
- The Swedish Standardized Course of Care-Diagnostic Efficacy in Esophageal and Gastric Cancer.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
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- Can National Registries Contribute to Predict the Risk of Cancer? The Cancer Risk Assessment Model (CRAM).Cancers · 2022Article
- Development of an alarm symptom-based risk prediction score for localized oesophagogastric adenocarcinoma (VIOLA score).ESMO open · 2022Article
- Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer: Delays in Diagnosis and Treatment Caused by Barriers to Healthcare in the Latino Community.Gastroenterology research · 2022Article
- Introducing the Sanguis-Filum for Detection of Gastric Mucosal Lesions Prior to Endoscopy: A Study Protocol.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Predictive values for different cancers and inflammatory bowel disease of 6 common abdominal symptoms among more than 1.9 million primary care patients in the UK: A cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2021Article
- Validation and Comparison of Tools for Selecting Individuals to Screen for Barrett's Esophagus and Early Neoplasia.Gastroenterology · 2020Article
- Predictive values of colorectal cancer alarm symptoms in the general population: a nationwide cohort study.British journal of cancer · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSurvival rates for upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer are poor since many are diagnosed at advanced stages. Fast track endoscopy has been introduced to prompt diagnosis for patients with alarm symptoms that could be indicative of upper GI cancer. However, these symptoms may represent benign conditions and little is known about the predictive values of alarm symptoms of upper GI cancer in the general population.
methodsThe study is a nationwide cohort study of 60,562 individuals aged 45 years or above randomly selected from the Danish general population. Participants were invited to complete a survey comprising of questions on several symptom experiences, including alarm symptoms for upper GI cancer within the past four weeks. The participants were asked about specific symptoms (repeated vomiting, difficulty swallowing, signs of upper GI bleeding or persistent and recent-onset abdominal pain) and non-specific symptoms (nausea, weight loss, loss of appetite, feeling unwell and tiredness). We obtained information on upper GI cancer diagnosed in a 12-month period after completing the questionnaire from the Danish Cancer Registry. We calculated positive predictive values and positive likelihood ratios for the association between alarm symptom and subsequent upper GI cancer.
resultsA total of 33,040 individuals above 45 years completed the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 54.6%. Respondents were fairly respresentative of the study sample. During the follow-up period, 18 people were diagnosed with upper GI cancer. The number of incident cancers was similar among eligible non-respondents. Two thirds of the respondents with an upper GI malignancy had experienced one or more alarm symptoms. The positive predictive value for being diagnosed with upper GI cancer after reporting a least one alarm symptom was 0.1% (95% CI:0.0-0.1%). The positive likelihood ratio was 4.4 for specific alarm symptoms and 1.1 for non-specific alarm symptoms.
conclusionsWe found that positive predictive values of alarm symptoms of upper GI cancer experienced in the general population are low. It is important knowledge that despite denoted alarm symptoms even patients with specific alarm symptoms of upper GI cancer have a low risk of being diagnosed with upper GI cancer.
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