A quarter of cancer patients only diagnosed in casualty: Research raises fresh questions about the NHS's ability to spot the disease early enough.
One in four cancer patients is diagnosed only after they end up in casualty, according to research that raises fresh questions about the NHS's ability to spot the disease early enough.
Around 58,400 cancer cases a year in England, or 24% of all those diagnosed, are identified only once the sufferer has been admitted to hospital as an emergency. The proportion is even higher for the over-70s, at 31% of all cases.
The figures emerged from a National Cancer Intelligence Network study of 739,667 people who were diagnosed with the disease in England in 2006-2008. Researchers examined when they received their diagnosis and what preceded that.
Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, was one of the study's co-authors alongside government cancer tsar Prof Sir Mike Richards and others. She said: "Our findings showing the sheer numbers of cancer patients first seen as an emergency are startling.
"Early diagnosis of cancer, when the most effective treatments are more likely to be options, helps improve a patient's chance of surviving their disease.
"We don't yet know the reasons that lie behind these stark figures but, although we might expect higher numbers of older patients to have cancer detected as an emergency, we urgently need to understand why there is such a great proportion.
"It may be that older people are reluctant to bother their doctor with possible cancer symptoms, or they could be slipping through the net as symptoms may be dismissed as 'the usual aches and pains' or 'old age', or their GP could have referred them but their condition has progressed so rapidly that they end up as an emergency in hospital."
Experts said late diagnosis after an emergency hospital admission could seriously affect chances of survival.
Macmillan Cancer Support said the findings, published in the British Journal of Cancer were "appalling", especially for older people.
Prof Jane Maher, the charity's chief medical officer, said: "It is appalling that so many cancer patients are still diagnosed through emergency admissions, with 65% of them over 70. Evidence shows that diagnosis after an emergency presentation can seriously reduce someone's survival chances.
"It can be more difficult to spot cancer symptoms in older people who have other health conditions but this does not excuse such a high number of people being diagnosed in this way. All cancer patients should be given the best possible survival chance and we owe it to the older members of our society to ensure that this applies equally to them."
Some of the 24% of patients in the study whose cancer was identified at A&E ended up there because they showed symptoms of the disease, but others only had their cancer spotted after seeking treatment for other problems, such as broken hips, or being sent there by their GP on account of their cancer symptoms.
Among all age groups cancers of the brain and central nervous system were the most likely to be diagnosed after a patient came to A&E (62%), followed by pancreatic cancer (50%) and lung cancer (39%) – two of the forms of cancer with the worst prospects of survival. But just 3% of skin cancers, 5% of breast cancers and 5% of cases of melanoma were diagnosed that way, which suggests that GPs and hospital doctors are much better at identifying them after symptoms occur.
Among over-70s, though, about 70% of cancers affecting the brain and central nervous system and 55% of cases of pancreatic cancer and 52% of liver cancers only came to light when the person ended up as an emergency hospital patient.
Anna Soubry, the public health minister, said every patient should get quick and easy access to diagnosis. The coalition is spending £450m over four years to try and reduce rates of late diagnosis in England, which studies have shown to be poor, and so save 5,000-10,000 lives a year.
The Department of Health is using campaigns to try and make people more aware of the symptoms of particular cancers, such as bowel cancer, and persuade them to go and see their GP more readily to have potential signs of the disease checked out. The Guardian
One in four cancer patients is diagnosed only after they end up in casualty, according to research that raises fresh questions about the NHS's ability to spot the disease early enough.
Around 58,400 cancer cases a year in England, or 24% of all those diagnosed, are identified only once the sufferer has been admitted to hospital as an emergency. The proportion is even higher for the over-70s, at 31% of all cases.
The figures emerged from a National Cancer Intelligence Network study of 739,667 people who were diagnosed with the disease in England in 2006-2008. Researchers examined when they received their diagnosis and what preceded that.
Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, was one of the study's co-authors alongside government cancer tsar Prof Sir Mike Richards and others. She said: "Our findings showing the sheer numbers of cancer patients first seen as an emergency are startling.
"Early diagnosis of cancer, when the most effective treatments are more likely to be options, helps improve a patient's chance of surviving their disease.
"We don't yet know the reasons that lie behind these stark figures but, although we might expect higher numbers of older patients to have cancer detected as an emergency, we urgently need to understand why there is such a great proportion.
"It may be that older people are reluctant to bother their doctor with possible cancer symptoms, or they could be slipping through the net as symptoms may be dismissed as 'the usual aches and pains' or 'old age', or their GP could have referred them but their condition has progressed so rapidly that they end up as an emergency in hospital."
Experts said late diagnosis after an emergency hospital admission could seriously affect chances of survival.
Macmillan Cancer Support said the findings, published in the British Journal of Cancer were "appalling", especially for older people.
Prof Jane Maher, the charity's chief medical officer, said: "It is appalling that so many cancer patients are still diagnosed through emergency admissions, with 65% of them over 70. Evidence shows that diagnosis after an emergency presentation can seriously reduce someone's survival chances.
"It can be more difficult to spot cancer symptoms in older people who have other health conditions but this does not excuse such a high number of people being diagnosed in this way. All cancer patients should be given the best possible survival chance and we owe it to the older members of our society to ensure that this applies equally to them."
Some of the 24% of patients in the study whose cancer was identified at A&E ended up there because they showed symptoms of the disease, but others only had their cancer spotted after seeking treatment for other problems, such as broken hips, or being sent there by their GP on account of their cancer symptoms.
Among all age groups cancers of the brain and central nervous system were the most likely to be diagnosed after a patient came to A&E (62%), followed by pancreatic cancer (50%) and lung cancer (39%) – two of the forms of cancer with the worst prospects of survival. But just 3% of skin cancers, 5% of breast cancers and 5% of cases of melanoma were diagnosed that way, which suggests that GPs and hospital doctors are much better at identifying them after symptoms occur.
Among over-70s, though, about 70% of cancers affecting the brain and central nervous system and 55% of cases of pancreatic cancer and 52% of liver cancers only came to light when the person ended up as an emergency hospital patient.
Anna Soubry, the public health minister, said every patient should get quick and easy access to diagnosis. The coalition is spending £450m over four years to try and reduce rates of late diagnosis in England, which studies have shown to be poor, and so save 5,000-10,000 lives a year.
The Department of Health is using campaigns to try and make people more aware of the symptoms of particular cancers, such as bowel cancer, and persuade them to go and see their GP more readily to have potential signs of the disease checked out. The Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment