ArticleBMJ open2018
Diagnostic routes and time intervals for patients with colorectal cancer in 10 international jurisdictions; findings from a cross-sectional study from the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP).
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Linked color imaging versus conventional white-light colonoscopy for the detection of colorectal polyps.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Conflicting Guidelines: A Systematic Review on the Proper Interval for Colorectal Cancer Treatment.World journal of surgery · 2021Pooled it
- Health System Factors in Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis: A HEADSpAcE Consortium Qualitative Study in Glasgow and Montevideo.Head & neck · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Cataloguing and evaluating Irish health data resources for primary care cancer research.BJC reports · 2025Review
- Factors associated with diagnostic and treatment intervals in colorectal cancer: A linked data study.International journal of cancer · 2025Article
- Advanced Stage Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis: HEADSpAcE Consortium Health Systems Benchmarking Survey.Head & neck · 2025Article
- Exploring colorectal cancer patients' diagnostic pathways and general practitioners' assessment of the diagnostic processes: a Danish survey study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2025Article
- The Timeliness of Drug Therapy in Colorectal and Prostate Cancer in Antigua and Barbuda: The Role of Disease Stage.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Mapping the colorectal cancer patient journey in Egypt: A qualitative study of diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle perspectives.PloS one · 2025Article
- Income differences in time to colon cancer diagnosis.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
- Early colorectal cancer screening-no time to lose.World journal of gastroenterology · 2024Article
- Stage at diagnosis of colorectal cancer through diagnostic route: Who should be screened?World journal of gastroenterology · 2024Observational
- Data Resource Profile: Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Data Connect.International journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- A novel blood based triage test for colorectal cancer in primary care: a pilot study.BJGP open · 2023Article
- Patient experience and satisfaction with symptomatic faecal immunochemical testing: an explanatory sequential mixed-methods evaluation.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Patient and tumour characteristics of screening-age adults diagnosed with screen-detected versus symptomatic colon cancer.Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2022Article
- Measurement of clinical delay intervals among younger adults with colorectal cancer using health administrative data: a population-based analysis.BMJ open gastroenterology · 2022Article
- Assessing how routes to diagnosis vary by the age of patients with cancer: a nationwide register-based cohort study in Denmark.BMC cancer · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveInternational differences in colorectal cancer (CRC) survival and stage at diagnosis have been reported previously. They may be linked to differences in time intervals and routes to diagnosis. The International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership Module 4 (ICBP M4) reports the first international comparison of routes to diagnosis for patients with CRC and the time intervals from symptom onset until the start of treatment. Data came from patients in 10 jurisdictions across six countries (Canada, the UK, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Australia).
designPatients with CRC were identified via cancer registries. Data on symptomatic and screened patients were collected; questionnaire data from patients' primary care physicians and specialists, as well as information from treatment records or databases, supplemented patient data from the questionnaires. Routes to diagnosis and the key time intervals were described, as were between-jurisdiction differences in time intervals, using quantile regression.
participantsA total of 14 664 eligible patients with CRC diagnosed between 2013 and 2015 were identified, of which 2866 were included in the analyses. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Interval lengths in days (primary), reported patient symptoms (secondary).
resultsThe main route to diagnosis for patients was symptomatic presentation and the most commonly reported symptom was 'bleeding/blood in stool'. The median intervals between jurisdictions ranged from: 21 to 49 days (patient); 0 to 12 days (primary care); 27 to 76 days (diagnostic); and 77 to 168 days (total, from first symptom to treatment start). Including screen-detected cases did not significantly alter the overall results.
conclusionICBP M4 demonstrates important differences in time intervals between 10 jurisdictions internationally. The differences may justify efforts to reduce intervals in some jurisdictions.
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