SynthesisESMO open2020
The sarcoma diagnostic interval: a systematic review on length, contributing factors and patient outcomes.
Synthesis in ESMO open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patients' experiences of the path to sarcoma diagnosis: a qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- ESR Bridges: new developments in imaging and treatment of soft tissue sarcoma-a multidisciplinary view.European radiology · 2026Article
- Diagnostic Intervals in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults with Primary Bone Sarcoma: A Systematic Review.Cancers · 2026Review
- Patient and Tumor Factors Influencing Diagnostic Trajectories in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Patients and Their Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life: A Dutch Multicenter Study.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Observational
- How Much Do Healthcare Practitioners Know About Sarcoma?Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Observational
- Article
- Actionable diagnostic delay in primary malignant bone tumors: a trigger-to-action framework for first-contact clinicians.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Frequency and clinical features of germline pathogenic variants in sarcoma: a case-control study.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2026Article
- Defining Core Competencies for Generalists in Musculoskeletal Oncology: A Latin-American Consensus for Medical Education.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2025Article
- Semi-supervised Label Generation for 3D Multi-modal MRI Bone Tumor Segmentation.Journal of imaging informatics in medicine · 2025Article
- Lung Carcinoids in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs): A Still Overlooked Clinical Entity.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Review
- Multiparametric Ultrasound in the Differential Diagnosis of Soft Tissue Tumors: A Comprehensive Review.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement and Reporting for Patients with Soft Tissue Tumors: A Scoping Literature Review.Cancers · 2025Review
- ASO Practice Guidelines Series: Multidisciplinary Management of Retroperitoneal Sarcomas.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Review
- Evaluation of primary physicians' awareness regarding the radiological findings of osteosarcoma: A retrospective study.Medicine · 2025Observational
- Diagnostic Delay in Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Review.Cancers · 2025Review
- The Prediagnostic General Practitioners' Pathway of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Patients: A Real-World Data Study.Cancers · 2025Article
- Clear Cell Sarcoma of Soft Tissues: Radiological Analysis of 14 Patients-MRI Findings Related to Metastatic Disease.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Orthopaedic Oncologic Consultation Using Asynchronous Telemedicine: Expedited Triage and Reduced Clinic Visits.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sarcomas are rare and heterogeneous mesenchymal tumours of soft tissue or bone, making them prone to late diagnosis. In other malignancies, early diagnosis has an impact on stage of disease, complexity of therapeutic procedures, survival and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Little is known about what length of diagnostic interval should be considered as delay in patients with bone (BS) or soft tissue sarcomas (STS). To quantify total interval (defined as time from first symptom to histological diagnosis) and its components, identify contributing factors to its length and determine the impact on patients' outcome in terms of mortality and HRQoL. A systematic review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Seventy-six articles out of 2310 met the predefined inclusion criteria. Total intervals, varied broadly; 9-120.4 weeks for BS and 4.3-614.9 weeks for STS. Older age and no initial radiological examinations were contributing factors for a long interval in BS, while in STS results were conflicting. The impact of length of total interval on clinical outcomes in terms of survival and morbidity remains ambiguous; no clear relation could be identified for both BS and STS. No study examined the impact on HRQoL. The length of total interval is variable in BS as well as STS. Its effect on outcomes is contradictory. There is no definition of a clinically relevant cut-off point that discriminates between a short or long total interval. Prospero: CRD42017062492.
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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.