OnMedica – News – General Practitioners Need Better Tools to Diagnose Pancreatic Cancer

Only 3% of general practitioners think they can detect signs

Only one out of 10 GPs believes they have access to the tools needed to diagnose pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all common cancers and, according to a Pancreatic Cancer UK survey released today, three out of ten GPs (28%) say they do not have the tools to detect advanced pancreatic cancer. where it is possible to treat.

In addition, 54% of general practitioners say they have some tools, but they could have more.

Only 3% of the 1,007 British general practitioners surveyed by ComRes on behalf of this charity say they are very confident they can detect the signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer in a patient.

One in four patients with pancreatic cancer died less than a month after diagnosis, making it the most deadly cancer. No screening or early detection test exists for the disease and currently, half of the patients (53%) are diagnosed at stage 4.

Weak symptoms – such as back pain, indigestion and weight loss – mean that pancreatic cancer is not detected until it has spread, preventing patients from benefiting from the only possible cure. : a surgical procedure to remove their tumor.

The government has prioritized early diagnosis of cancer in the NHS's long-term plan, but only one-fifth of general practitioners surveyed believe that the goal is currently realistic for people with pancreatic cancer .

Doctors who suspect the disease may refer patients to an ultrasound, CT scan or MRI scan. However, nearly half of patients with pancreatic cancer are currently diagnosed via an emergency. The impact is significant: the one-year survival of patients diagnosed via a referral to the family doctor is three times higher.

Pancreatic Cancer UK has launched a new research project to develop the first simple test of the disease by 2024. As researchers at the Alliance for Early Diagnostic Research, the Alliance for Research on Diagnosis will combine its expertise to: improve the sensitivity and accuracy of a new biobank of patient samples with fuzzy symptoms and test new tools in a clinical trial to examine the possibility of establishing a pathway of specific diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in the NHS.

In response to the survey, Helen Stokes-Lampard, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), said: "GPs are well aware of the importance of screening for symptoms of pancreatic cancer, but it is notoriously difficult to diagnose primary care, especially in its early stages, simply because there are often no symptoms – and when symptoms occur, they are often very vague at first and may indicate many other more common conditions.

"The most appropriate intervention to address this paradox is to give primary care teams better access to the appropriate diagnostic tools in the community – and the appropriate training to use them – and we welcome the recommendations made in this report to that effect. "

She added, "General practitioners quickly diagnose most cancers, and it is thanks to this hard work and vigilance that 75% of patients diagnosed with a form of cancer are referred after only one or two consultations. and that since 2008, the proportion of cancers diagnosed in emergency has gone from 23% to less than 19%.

"Not surprisingly, only one in 10 GPs feel they have the tools to diagnose pancreatic cancer because we are under immense pressure on resources and staff, and our access to important diagnostic tests is one of the lowest in Europe.

"Cancer is a long-term priority for the RCGP, and we have worked with Cancer Research UK and others to develop resources for general practitioners and other health professionals to help them diagnose cancer in a timely manner. . "

Currently, only 3% of the funds allocated to early diagnosis by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) are devoted to pancreatic cancer.

Diana Jupp, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: "For too long, pancreatic cancer has been able to go unnoticed in devastated, undetected families. Thousands of patients a year, still shocked by the word cancer, are told that it is too late and nothing can be done for them. This must stop. We need to give doctors the tools they need to detect the warning signs earlier so that they can make sure that those who need them receive treatment as quickly as possible.

"Previous approaches to funding research were too small, too scarce, and too isolated to accelerate the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. We have brought together the best scientists from across the country to achieve the progress we have been craving for decades. We're excited to be making our biggest investment in early diagnosis research, but it's a big challenge. We need the public to be with us and support our campaign if we want to discover the diagnostic test that we desperately need to save lives. "

Professor Steve Pereira of the University College London Hospital, who heads the Alliance for Early Diagnostic Research, said: "For the first time, we will be able to simultaneously look at a number of key barriers and interdependent to early diagnosis, which will help us move faster. . In five years, I would like to see a validated diagnostic pathway and one or more simple tests implemented in the NHS. This would mean that thousands more people would receive the most effective treatments, which would give patients and their doctors a chance to fight this terrible disease. "