Article
Oncology
Yin Zhou, Fiona M. Walter, Hardeep Singh, William Hamilton, Gary A. Abel, Georgios Lyratzopoulos
Summary: In England, patients with alarm features of cancer are recommended to be assessed by a specialist within 14 days, but more than a quarter of those meeting fast-track referral criteria do not receive a timely diagnosis. Factors such as recurrent urinary tract infections, female sex, and extremes of age are associated with a higher likelihood of non-timely diagnosis in bladder and kidney cancer patients. This suggests that there are opportunities to improve timely referral for these patients.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Robert Froud, Solveig Hakestad Hansen, Hans Kristian Ruud, Jonathan Foss, Leila Ferguson, Per Morten Fredriksen
Summary: The study found that in health research, linear regression is more reliable in prediction than machine learning, and machine learning performance can be improved with imputation. Lifestyle variables such as physical exercise, television and computer use, and parental education are predictive of academic performance and quality of life.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Primary Health Care
Stephen H. Bradley, Matthew Barclay, Benjamin Cornwell, Gary A. Abel, Matthew E. J. Callister, Mayam Gomez-Cano, Thomas Round, Bethany Shinkins, Richard Neal
Summary: This study found significant variation in CXR rates across English general practices, with only 18% of the variance explained by recorded characteristics. Practices with higher scores in continuity and communication skills, higher proportions of smokers, Asian and mixed ethnic groups, and older patients were associated with increased CXR rates. On the other hand, practices with higher patient satisfaction scores for access, greater proportions of male patients and Black ethnicity patients were associated with lower CXR rates.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Primary Health Care
Yin Zhou, Fiona M. Walter, Luke Mounce, Gary A. Abel, Hardeep Singh, Willie Hamilton, Grant Stewart, Georgios Lyratzopoulos
Summary: This study aimed to examine pre-diagnostic patterns of abnormal blood test results in patients with bladder and renal cancer. The results showed that abnormalities in commonly performed primary care blood tests can be observed up to 8 months before diagnosis, indicating the potential for earlier diagnosis in some patients.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
(2022)
Review
Oncology
Becky White, Cristina Renzi, Meena Rafiq, Gary A. Abel, Henry Jensen, Georgios Lyratzopoulos
Summary: This review examined studies on pre-diagnostic changes in healthcare utilization among patients subsequently diagnosed with cancer. The findings show that changes in healthcare use can be observed at least six months before diagnosis for many common cancers, and even earlier for certain types of cancer like colorectal cancer, multiple myeloma, and brain tumors. Early changes were also identified for specific sites within the brain and colon. This suggests that improvements in diagnostic technologies or services could help shorten the diagnostic intervals for cancer detection.
CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Bianca Wiering, Georgios Lyratzopoulos, Willie Hamilton, John Campbell, Gary Abel
Summary: Most patients with potential cancer symptoms do not receive urgent referrals according to guidelines, and a substantial number of these patients are diagnosed with cancer within 1 year. There is room for improvement in the diagnostic process.
BMJ QUALITY & SAFETY
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Mayam Gomez-Cano, Georgios Lyratzopoulos, John L. Campbell, Marc N. Elliott, Gary A. Abel
Summary: By conducting factor analysis on the English Cancer Patient Experience Survey, researchers identified five latent factors underlying the survey's core questions, which relate to different aspects of cancer health care. This finding supports the development of evidence-based composite indicators for different domains of experience and offers options for survey redesign.
Article
Primary Health Care
Meena Rafiq, Gary Abel, Cristina Renzi, Georgios Lyratzopoulos
Summary: A case-control study in UK primary care found that the use of inflammatory marker tests and the presence of abnormal results increase significantly in Hodgkin lymphoma patients several months before diagnosis. This suggests the existence of a diagnostic time window with a considerable length in many Hodgkin lymphoma patients, many of whom do not have other red-flag features.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Primary Health Care
M. Moullet, Y. Zhou, L. T. A. Mounce, G. A. Abel, G. Funston, N. de Wit, F. M. Walter
Summary: This study analyzes the clinical features and blood test results of patients with colorectal cancer and finds that consultation rates gradually increase before diagnosis, indicating the need for earlier investigations or referrals in symptomatic patients.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Tanimola Martins, Gary Abel, Obioha C. Ukoumunne, Luke T. A. Mounce, Sarah Price, Georgios Lyratzopoulos, Frank Chinegwundoh, William Hamilton
Summary: This study investigated ethnic differences in the route to cancer diagnosis and found inequalities in the cancer journeys of Asian and Black ethnic groups. Targeted interventions are needed to address these disparities.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF CANCER
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Tanimola Martins, Gary Abel, Obioha C. Ukoumunne, Sarah Price, Georgios Lyratzopoulos, Frank Chinegwundoh, William Hamilton
Summary: This study examined the time to diagnosis among different ethnic groups in the UK for seven types of cancer. The results showed that ethnic minority groups experienced a longer time to diagnosis compared to the White group in five out of the seven cancers studied. However, these differences were small and unlikely to be the sole explanation for the disparities in cancer outcomes across ethnic groups.
Article
Primary Health Care
Ben M. Cranfield, Minjoung Monica Koo, Gary A. Abel, Ruth Swann, Sean McPhail, Greg P. Rubin, Georgios Lyratzopoulos
Summary: This study explored the use of common blood tests before cancer diagnosis in primary care and found that approximately 41% of patients subsequently diagnosed with cancer had at least one common blood test. There were variations in test usage among different patient groups and symptom presentations, highlighting the need for further research.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Tanimola Martins, Obioha C. Ukoumunne, Georgios Lyratzopoulos, Willie Hamilton, Gary Abel
Summary: This UK population-based study aimed to investigate whether there are ethnic differences in the presenting features of cancer recorded in primary care before diagnosis. The study found that Asian and Black patients were more likely to have 'less concerning' features recorded before diagnosis compared to White patients, while no ethnic group was more likely to have alarm features recorded. Further research is needed to determine the underlying factors behind these ethnic differences, whether it is related to disease biology, patient, or healthcare factors.
Article
Primary Health Care
Marie Moullet, Garth Funston, Luke Ta Mounce, Gary A. Abel, Niek de Wit, Fiona M. Walter, Yin Zhou
Summary: The majority of colorectal cancer is diagnosed following symptomatic presentation in the UK. This study identified an early increase in rates of consultation for relevant clinical features and abnormal blood tests in patients with colorectal cancer, suggesting the need for earlier investigations or referrals for symptomatic patients.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Primary Health Care
Minjoung M. Koo, Ruth Swann, Sean McPhail, Gary A. Abel, Cristina Renzi, Greg P. Rubin, Georgios Lyratzopoulos
Summary: This study examines the influence of pre-existing conditions (morbidities) on the diagnostic process of cancer in primary care. It finds that patients with more severe morbidities are less likely to undergo primary care-led investigation before cancer diagnosis and experience longer diagnostic intervals. However, there is limited variation in the primary care-based diagnostic processes across different morbidity groups.