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In the UK, treatment may take up to a year to some patients with bowel cancer, according to an international study coordinated by Cancer Research UK and published in BMJ Open* today.
The researchers found that 10% of patients in England, Northern Ireland and Wales took a year or more before starting treatment.
A team from the International Partnership for Comparative Cancer Analysis (ICBP) – a collaboration between countries with similar health systems and high quality data – has been following every step of the treatment of a patient with HIV / AIDS. A bowel cancer before its treatment. They reviewed questionnaires completed by 2,866 international patients and their physicians, as well as the medical records of patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2015.
They found that men and women in Wales took the longest time to contact their doctor once they had noticed a health problem or symptom (49 days on average **).
Once diagnosed in Wales, patients waited the longest (average of 39 days) before starting chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery, more than double that of Danish and Victoria patients. Australia (14 days).
Overall, patients in Wales had the longest observation time between a change of treatment and the start of treatment (168 days on average).
This compares with 145 days in England, 138 days in Northern Ireland and 120 days in Scotland. Denmark had the best results, with the process taking an average of 77 days.
There was also a big difference between countries as to how long it took for patients to be diagnosed once they had sought help. Patients in Denmark and Victoria waited most often 27 and 28 days respectively for a diagnosis of bowel cancer, compared to those in Manitoba in Canada who waited 76 days.
In the UK, patients in Wales and Northern Ireland waited longer for diagnosis (60 and 64 days, respectively) than patients in Scotland (38 days) and England (48 days). ***
By comparing health care systems from similar countries, the ICBP can help identify important differences to improve cancer diagnosis worldwide and save more lives.
Waiting longer to start treatment may increase patient anxiety and also impact treatment success.
Sara Hiom, director of early diagnosis at Cancer Research UK, said: "This work shows that the UK's major task is to improve the speed with which bowel cancer patients receive a treatment.
"We have a lot to learn from other countries, including removing barriers, encouraging patients to see the GP if they notice unusual changes, and ensuring the fastest possible path between referral, diagnosis and diagnosis." the treatment.
"It is also essential that we have enough staff and capabilities to quickly perform and report tests and provide treatment as quickly as possible." The diagnosis of bowel cancer is based on qualified endoscopists and pathologists. and there has long been a shortage of these essential health professionals in the UK.
"Increasing the workforce needed for patients to get the care they need, when they need it, will provide patients and their families with a less stressful and more worrying time. while extending the lives of patients and allowing them to reduce expenses related to expensive treatments.For this investment in the NHS, the laudable ambition of the Prime Minister to improve early diagnosis will not materialize. "
Professor David Weller, senior author based at the University of Edinburgh, said: "The significant variation among participating countries in the time it took patients to start treatment shows that 39, there is a real potential to accelerate this process.
"Further research is needed to understand these differences and build on what works well in other countries to give British patients the best care possible."
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Notes to editors
* Weller et al, diagnostic routes and time intervals for colorectal cancer in ten international jurisdictions; the results of a cross-sectional study of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership.
** All figures from this point are median values (ie the number in the middle of the dataset for the number of days waiting)
*** The results of this study are comparable to those of an earlier National Cancer Diagnosis Audit (NCDA) study, which indicated a 49-day time interval for colon patients in England.
**** Tørring ML, Frydenberg M, Hansen RP, Olesen F, Vedsted P. Proof of increased mortality with longer diagnostic intervals for five common cancers: a cohort study in primary care. European Cancer Journal, Volume 49, Number 9, June 2013, pages 2187-2198. doi: 10.1016 / j.ejca.2013.01.025
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