ArticleCancer science2025
Second Opinion Referrals of Cancer Patients in Japan-A Nationwide Study.
Article in Cancer science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patient-driven second opinions in oncology: a review.The oncologist · 2026Review
- Impact of Second Opinions on Time to Treatment of Breast Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 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
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Seeking a second opinion (SO) is a patient's right that is essential to appropriate decision-making for their care and treatment. In Japan, however, no previous studies have provided objective data on the nationwide practice of SO among cancer patients. In this study, we investigated SO referrals, including delays in initiating care, using data from nationwide hospital-based cancer registries and 2018-2020 the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) survey. Among the more than 2.6 million patients diagnosed with cancer, 1.6% received SO referral letters as reimbursement. The referral rates varied based on sex, age, and geographic regions. A total of 52.1% of SO were sought before active treatment of the tumor. Approximately 60% of the patients who sought SO prior to the initial treatment returned to their original provider for treatment. The average period from diagnosis to the start of treatment among those who sought SO was 18 days and 22 days longer for non-small lung cancer and breast cancer, respectively, than among those who did not seek SO. In the future, the risk-benefit of SO referral should be examined, considering both the prognostic impact of treatment delay due to SO and the psychological benefits for the patient gained from SO.
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Registered trials
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.