ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2019
Disease-related factors affecting timely lymphoma diagnosis: a qualitative study exploring patient experiences.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Content comparison of unmet needs self-report measures for lymphoma cancer survivors: A systematic review.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Living with or beyond lymphoma: A rapid review of the unmet needs of lymphoma survivors.Psycho-oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Patient Perspectives on Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Qualitative Study to Guide Selection of Clinical Trial Endpoints.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Exploring the link between unmet needs and quality of life in lymphoma survivors: a cross-sectional study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Article
- Pathways to myeloproliferative neoplasm presentation and time to diagnosis: results from a cross-sectional study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Comparative Analysis of Biopsy Techniques for Cervical Lymphoma: A Retrospective Cohort Review.The Permanente journal · 2025Article
- What causes delays in diagnosing blood cancers? A rapid review of the evidence.Primary health care research & development · 2023Review
- Cohort Profile Update: The Haematological Malignancy Research Network (HMRN) UK population-based cohorts.International journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Article
- Patient experiences of the urgent cancer referral pathway-Can the NHS do better? Semi-structured interviews with patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020Article
- Article
- Burkitt's lymphoma in pregnant woman: Difficult management of a rare case.International journal of surgery case reports · 2020Article
- Hodgkin lymphoma detection and survival: findings from the Haematological Malignancy Research Network.BJGP open · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExpediting cancer diagnosis is widely perceived as one way to improve patient outcomes. Evidence indicates that lymphoma diagnosis is often delayed, yet understanding of issues influencing this is incomplete.
aimTo explore patients' and their relatives' perceptions of disease-related factors affecting time to diagnosis of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. DESIGN AND
settingQualitative UK study involving patients with indolent and aggressive lymphomas, and their relatives, from an established population-based cohort in the north of England.
methodSemi-structured interviews with 35 patients and 15 of their relatives. Interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed, and qualitative descriptive analysis was undertaken.
resultsParticipant accounts suggest that certain features of lymphoma can impact on patients' and healthcare providers' (HCPs) responses to disease onset. Three characteristics stand out: disease occurrence (rare), manifestation (varied), and investigative options (often inconclusive). Interviewees described how they, and some HCPs, lacked familiarity with lymphoma, seldom considering it a likely explanation for their symptoms. Symptoms reported were highly variable, frequently non-specific, and often initially thought to be associated with various benign, self-limiting causes. Blood tests and other investigations, while frequently able to detect abnormalities, did not reliably indicate malignancy. Interviewees reported the potential for improvements among HCPs in information gathering, communication of uncertainty, and re-presentation advice for non-resolving/progressive health changes.
conclusionThis study demonstrates the complex characteristics of lymphoma, perceived by patients as prolonging time to diagnosis, often despite significant effort by themselves, their relatives, and HCPs to expedite this process. The findings also illustrate why simple solutions to delayed diagnosis of lymphoma are lacking.
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