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Lookup NU author(s): Emeritus Professor Greg RubinORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2017 The Authors Early diagnosis is an important aspect of contemporary cancer prevention and control strategies, as the majority of patients are diagnosed following symptomatic presentation. The nature of presenting symptoms can critically influence the length of the diagnostic intervals from symptom onset to presentation (the patient interval), and from first presentation to specialist referral (the primary care interval). Understanding which symptoms are associated with longer diagnostic intervals to help the targeting of early diagnosis initiatives is an area of emerging research. In this Review, we consider the methodological challenges in studying the presenting symptoms and intervals to diagnosis of cancer patients, and summarize current evidence on presenting symptoms associated with a range of common and rarer cancer sites. We propose a taxonomy of cancer sites considering their symptom signature and the predictive value of common presenting symptoms. Finally, we consider evidence on associations between symptomatic presentations and intervals to diagnosis before discussing implications for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health or health system interventions to achieve the earlier detection of cancer.
Author(s): Koo MM, Hamilton W, Walter FM, Rubin GP, Lyratzopoulos G
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Neoplasia
Year: 2018
Volume: 20
Issue: 2
Pages: 165-174
Print publication date: 01/02/2018
Online publication date: 16/12/2017
Acceptance date: 13/11/2017
ISSN (print): 1522-8002
ISSN (electronic): 1476-5586
Publisher: Neoplasia Press, Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neo.2017.11.005
DOI: 10.1016/j.neo.2017.11.005
