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Study indicates that referral from general practice for symptomatic cancer patients to cancer pathways is essential for the prognosis. Henry Jensen, postdoc at CaP, has published the study in BMC Cancer.
2017.11.23 |
The implementation of standardised cancer patient pathways has led to faster diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Denmark. At the same time, cancer survival is reported to be improved. However, it is unclear whether survival is primarily due to progress in symptomatic patients or non-symptomatic patients (e.g. patients diagnosed through screening).
This study investigates the prognostic effect in the form of survival and mortality among symptomatic cancer patients, which have been diagnosed through general practice. The results show that the relative 3-year survival rate for symptomatic cancer patients increased from 45% to 54% over time and that 3-year mortality was 35% higher prior the implementation of cancer treatment packages. The study also shows that patients who were referred from general practice to a cancer package generally had lower mortality than patients referred in other ways. Thus, the implementation of cancer packages in Denmark appears to have had a positive impact on the prognosis among symptomatic cancer patients, which have been diagnosed in general practice.