Around two thirds of patients with cancer diagnosed in England first present to primary care so encouraging timely referral of those with signs and symptoms of possible cancer is crucial to improve patient outcomes.
Cancer referral guidelines play a key role in supporting healthcare professionals to identify individuals with suspected cancer in a timely and consistent manner. Most UK guidelines use risk thresholds to determine which patients warrant urgent suspected cancer investigation or referral. These thresholds are based on the positive predictive value (PPV) of signs and symptoms alone or in combination.
In this editorial by Brian Nicholson, Associate Professor in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, in collaboration with academic thought-leaders from across the UK and CRUK, discuss whether risk stratification can move towards a more tailored model. With increasing evidence from research, thresholds for referrals could take into account factors relating to individualised risk and each cancer referral pathway.
Read the full article in the British Journal of General Practice.