Abstract
The fast-track system in the UK for patients with suspected cancer--the two-week rule--states that if cancer is suspected there should be a maximum of 14 days between referral from primary care and consultation with a specialist. This approach is valued by patients, ensures a universal standard of diagnosis, and speeds up the overall management of cancer. However, some say that the rule has had little or no effect on survival, results in a diagnosis of cancer in only a small proportion of patients referred, and is expensive. We have made a systematic review of the effectiveness of the two-week rule in patients with head and neck cancer with the aid of electronic searches of databases. including MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews CINAHL, and CANCERLIT up to the end of 2014. This was supplemented by searching conference proceedings and contacting experts. Retrospective and prospective studies that included either conversion rate (proportion of two-week referrals who were diagnosed with cancer--positive predictive value), or detection rate (proportion of diagnosed cancers referred under the two-week rule - sensitivity), or both, were included. Two reviewers assessed studies for inclusion, and extracted da...Continue Reading
References
Apr 21, 1999·Lancet·M A RichardsA J Ramirez
Jun 30, 2001·BMJ : British Medical Journal·R JonesP Hungin
Sep 6, 2003·ANZ Journal of Surgery·Karem SlimJacques Chipponi
Apr 27, 2004·The Journal of the British Menopause Society·Joanne MorrisonI Z MacKenzie
Apr 29, 2004·Clinical Otolaryngology and Allied Sciences·M LyonsG Watters
May 24, 2005·The British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery·S C EastB S Avery
Aug 23, 2005·Clinical Otolaryngology : Official Journal of ENT-UK ; Official Journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery·S TandonN J Roland
Oct 21, 2005·International Journal of Clinical Practice·S J HannaK H Khalil
Nov 22, 2005·Auris, Nasus, Larynx·Eric M GendenAlfio Ferlito
Jun 6, 2006·The British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery·Cyrus Kerawala, Titiaan Dormaar
Nov 15, 2006·Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice·Shyam Kiran DuvviKrishna T V Reddy
Nov 28, 2006·British Dental Journal·T A HodgsonS R Porter
Dec 13, 2006·British Dental Journal·P Singh, S Warnakulasuriya
Jul 17, 2007·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Shelley PotterSimon J Cawthorn
Aug 11, 2007·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Moyez Jiwa, Christobel Saunders
Feb 1, 2008·Oral Oncology·C McKieV Paleri
Mar 29, 2008·The Journal of Laryngology and Otology·J C HobsonL Ramamurthy
Oct 22, 2009·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Samantha Gardner, Janaki Wijesekara
Mar 18, 2010·Oral Diseases·I GómezJ Seoane
Apr 27, 2010·British Dental Journal·M McGurk, S E Scott
Apr 18, 2012·Primary Dental Care : Journal of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK)·Cara C S Miller, Rebecca J Hierons
Apr 24, 2012·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Hiten Joshi, David McPartlin
Jul 10, 2012·The British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery·Raheela RafiqSimon N Rogers
Mar 29, 2013·European Archives of Oto-rhino-laryngology : Official Journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : Affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery·Natasha ChoudhuryKhalid Ghufoor
Jun 26, 2013·Dental Traumatology : Official Publication of International Association for Dental Traumatology·Ahmed ElkhademDerek Richards
Citations
Nov 9, 2016·The British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery·D GrimesC Avery
Oct 21, 2017·Clinical Otolaryngology : Official Journal of ENT-UK ; Official Journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery·T TikkaK MacKenzie
Apr 14, 2016·British Journal of Hospital Medicine·Anne M Hegarty, Keith D Hunter
Jul 28, 2018·British Dental Journal·S Roy, K Anjum
Aug 11, 2018·British Dental Journal·M PurkayasthaD I Conway
Nov 10, 2018·British Dental Journal·M A O Lewis
Aug 3, 2019·The Journal of Laryngology and Otology·C GaoJ Hughes
Oct 18, 2019·Clinical Otolaryngology : Official Journal of ENT-UK ; Official Journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery·Theofano Tikka, Vinidh Paleri
Jan 28, 2020·Clinical Otolaryngology : Official Journal of ENT-UK ; Official Journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery·Theofano TikkaKenneth MacKenzie
Jun 4, 2020·Minerva stomatologica·Margherita GobboAugusto Poropat
Jun 17, 2020·Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England·S PatelA W Barrett
Sep 15, 2019·British Dental Journal·Richard Grey, Stephen Walsh
May 1, 2018·The Journal of Laryngology and Otology·P FinglandJ Montgomery
May 10, 2020·British Dental Journal·Ariyan S AraghiPanayiotis Kyzas
Aug 24, 2019·The Journal of Laryngology and Otology·J MontgomeryK MacKenzie
Dec 25, 2019·British Dental Journal·Christopher MetcalfeSimon N Rogers
Jul 12, 2020·Current Oncology Reports·Robert P TakesAlfio Ferlito
May 7, 2020·Head & Neck·Vinidh PaleriCyrus Kerawala
Dec 1, 2020·Health Technology Assessment : HTA·Antonieta Medina-LaraAnne E Spencer
Mar 3, 2021·The Journal of Laryngology and Otology·S BanerjeeS P K Rama
Apr 27, 2021·Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery·Louise Occomore-Kent, Suzanne Slade
Jul 27, 2021·International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders·Louise C Occomore-KentMadeline Cruice
Aug 20, 2021·Cancer·John C HardmanUNKNOWN ENT UK, BAHNO and INTEGRATE (The UK ENT Trainee Research Network)