Journal article
Is increased time to diagnosis and treatment in symptomatic cancer associated with poorer outcomes? Systematic review
RD Neal, P Tharmanathan, B France, NU Din, S Cotton, J Fallon-Ferguson, W Hamilton, A Hendry, M Hendry, R Lewis, U Macleod, ED Mitchell, M Pickett, T Rai, K Shaw, N Stuart, ML Tørring, C Wilkinson, B Williams, N Williams Show all
British Journal of Cancer | Published : 2015
DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2015.48
Abstract
Background: It is unclear whether more timely cancer diagnosis brings favourable outcomes, with much of the previous evidence, in some cancers, being equivocal. We set out to determine whether there is an association between time to diagnosis, treatment and clinical outcomes, across all cancers for symptomatic presentations. Methods: Systematic review of the literature and narrative synthesis. Results: We included 177 articles reporting 209 studies. These studies varied in study design, the time intervals assessed and the outcomes reported. Study quality was variable, with a small number of higher-quality studies. Heterogeneity precluded definitive findings. The cancers with more reports of ..
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Awarded by Cancer Research UK
Funding Acknowledgements
The original study and the update were funded by Cancer Research UK (grants C8350/A8870 and C8350/A17915, through EDAG-Early Diagnosis Advisory Group). RDN also receives funding from Public Health Wales and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. We thank other members of the ABC-DEEP consortium who did not contribute directly to this review but gave valuable advice throughout the study. We also thank others who contributed to the original review. We also thank staff at Cancer Research UK for their support and feedback throughout the review. Last, we thank Emma Kennerley for administrative support. We acknowledge that two of the co-authors (RDN and MLT) were also authors of papers included in the review. These papers were independently assessed by other members of the research team. The updated review registered with PROSPERO (http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROS-PERO/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42014006301).