Symptoms and other factors associated with time to diagnosis and stage of lung cancer: a prospective cohort study

British Journal of Cancer
F M WalterJ Emery

Abstract

This prospective cohort study aimed to identify symptom and patient factors that influence time to lung cancer diagnosis and stage at diagnosis. Data relating to symptoms were collected from patients upon referral with symptoms suspicious of lung cancer in two English regions; we also examined primary care and hospital records for diagnostic routes and diagnoses. Descriptive and regression analyses were used to investigate associations between symptoms and patient factors with diagnostic intervals and stage. Among 963 participants, 15.9% were diagnosed with primary lung cancer, 5.9% with other thoracic malignancies and 78.2% with non-malignant conditions. Only half the cohort had an isolated first symptom (475, 49.3%); synchronous first symptoms were common. Haemoptysis, reported by 21.6% of cases, was the only initial symptom associated with cancer. Diagnostic intervals were shorter for cancer than non-cancer diagnoses (91 vs 124 days, P=0.037) and for late-stage than early-stage cancer (106 vs 168 days, P=0.02). Chest/shoulder pain was the only first symptom with a shorter diagnostic interval for cancer compared with non-cancer diagnoses (P=0.003). Haemoptysis is the strongest symptom predictor of lung cancer but occurs in on...Continue Reading

References

Dec 4, 2009·British Journal of Cancer·M Abdel-RahmanM P Coleman
Jan 22, 2011·Journal of Thoracic Oncology : Official Publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer·William D TravisDavid Yankelewitz
Mar 31, 2012·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·Marie Louise TørringPeter Vedsted
Jan 23, 2013·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·William HamiltonUna Macleod
Jan 23, 2013·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Elizabeth D MitchellUna Macleod
Jan 23, 2013·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Sarah SmithNeil C Campbell
Mar 5, 2013·European Journal of Cancer : Official Journal for European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) [and] European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)·Marie Louise TørringPeter Vedsted
Dec 19, 2013·Family Practice·Joanna ShimSteve George
May 9, 2014·Cell Research·Rosa Bernardi, Luca Gianni
Jul 30, 2014·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Greg RubinJane Wardle
Aug 31, 2014·International Journal of Epidemiology·Anthony E AdesWilliam Hamilton
Dec 6, 2014·Cancer Research·Katherine L B Borden
Jan 2, 2015·BMJ Open Respiratory Research·Linda BirtFiona M Walter

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jan 9, 2016·Respiratory Medicine Case Reports·Bibek S Pannu, Vivek N Iyer
Dec 30, 2015·Lung Cancer : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer·Didier DebieuvreMichel Grivaux
Sep 14, 2015·Cancer Epidemiology·M M KooG Lyratzopoulos
Oct 4, 2015·The Lancet Oncology·Greg RubinCamilla Zimmermann
May 25, 2015·Lung Cancer : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer·David R Baldwin
Apr 22, 2016·BMC Family Practice·Lisa Maria Falk SeleDorte Ejg Jarbøl
Nov 3, 2016·Nature Reviews. Clinical Oncology·Willie HamiltonRichard D Neal
May 18, 2017·European Journal of Cancer Care·Thomas Round
May 13, 2017·European Journal of Cancer Care·R WaglandJ Corner
Mar 31, 2018·Acta Oncologica·Francesco CavallinCarlo Castoro
Feb 9, 2016·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Cristina RenziJane Wardle
Aug 31, 2018·European Respiratory Review : an Official Journal of the European Respiratory Society·Ashanya MalalasekeraJanette L Vardy
Aug 2, 2019·Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy·Johan Filip VansteenkistePierre Van Mol
Aug 5, 2019·Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology·Srishti VashishtSushama Talegaonkar
Jan 29, 2020·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Sarah ChowienczykWillie Hamilton
Nov 28, 2019·Lung·Marco Galvez-NinoLuis Mas
Apr 17, 2020·Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology·Ashanya MalalasekeraJanette L Vardy
Feb 25, 2019·Thorax·Trevor Keith Rogers
Jun 5, 2019·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Richard D NealMatthew E Callister
Jul 28, 2019·Nature Reviews. Clinical Oncology·Cristina RenziGeorgios Lyratzopoulos
Oct 13, 2015·British Journal of Hospital Medicine·Jon BanksFiona Walter
Feb 10, 2019·NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine·Stuart PurdieJane M Young
May 24, 2019·NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine·D P WellerJ K Field
Dec 7, 2019·South Asian Journal of Cancer·Abhishek BasuAvik Maji
Nov 13, 2015·The Medical Journal of Australia·Jon D Emery

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
X-ray

Software Mentioned

SIM

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Cancer Incidence & Mortality

Cancer has emerged as a global concern due to its increase in incidence and mortality. Efforts are underway to evaluate and develop action plans to reduce the global burden of cancer. Currently, lung cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer are the leading causes of cancer mortality. Here is the latest research on cancer incidence and mortality.