Cancer Patient Pathways shortens waiting times and accelerates the diagnostic process of suspected sarcoma patients in Denmark

TNM stage in the Nordic Cancer Registries 2004-2016: Registration and availability

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Stage at cancer diagnosis is an important predictor of cancer survival. TNM stage is constructed for anatomic solid cancer diagnoses from tumor size (T), nodal spread (N) and distant metastasis (M) and categorized in groups 0-I, II, II and IV. TNM stage is imperative in cancer diagnosis, management and control, and of high value in cancer surveillance, for example, monitoring of stage distributions. This study yields an overview of TNM availability and trends in stage distribution in the Nordic countries for future use in monitoring and epidemiologic studies.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

TNM information was acquired from the cancer registries in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland during 2004-2016 for 26 cancer sites in the three former countries and four in Iceland. We studied availability, comparability, and distribution of TNM stage in three periods: 2004-2008, 2009-2013, and 2014-2016, applying a previously validated algorithm of 'N0M0 for NXMX'. For cancers of colon, rectum, lung, breast, and kidney, we examined TNM stage-specific 1-year relative survival to evaluate the quality in registration of TNM between countries.

RESULTS

Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland exhibited available TNM stage proportions of 75-95% while proportions were lower in Norway. Proportions increased in Sweden over time but decreased in Denmark. One-year relative survival differed substantially more between TNM stages than between countries emphasizing that TNM stage is an important predictor for survival and that stage recording is performed similarly in the Nordic countries.

INTERPRETATION

Assessment and registration of TNM stage is an imperative tool in evaluations of trends in cancer survival between the Nordic countries.

Guideline concordance for timely chest imaging after new presentations of dyspnoea or haemoptysis in primary care: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Guidelines recommend urgent chest X-ray for newly presenting dyspnoea or haemoptysis but there is little evidence about their implementation.

METHODS

We analysed linked primary care and hospital imaging data for patients aged 30+ years newly presenting with dyspnoea or haemoptysis in primary care during April 2012 to March 2017. We examined guideline-concordant management, defined as General Practitioner-ordered chest X-ray/CT carried out within 2 weeks of symptomatic presentation, and variation by sociodemographic characteristic and relevant medical history using logistic regression. Additionally, among patients diagnosed with cancer we described time to diagnosis, diagnostic route and stage at diagnosis by guideline-concordant status.

RESULTS

In total, 22 560/162 161 (13.9%) patients with dyspnoea and 4022/8120 (49.5%) patients with haemoptysis received guideline-concordant imaging within the recommended 2-week period. Patients with recent chest imaging pre-presentation were much less likely to receive imaging (adjusted OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.14-0.18 for dyspnoea, and adjusted OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.06-0.11 for haemoptysis). History of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/asthma was also associated with lower odds of guideline concordance (dyspnoea: OR 0.234, 95% CI 0.225-0.242 and haemoptysis: 0.88, 0.79-0.97). Guideline-concordant imaging was lower among dyspnoea presenters with prior heart failure; current or ex-smokers; and those in more socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.The likelihood of lung cancer diagnosis within 12 months was greater among the guideline-concordant imaging group (dyspnoea: 1.1% vs 0.6%; haemoptysis: 3.5% vs 2.7%).

CONCLUSION

The likelihood of receiving urgent imaging concords with the risk of subsequent cancer diagnosis. Nevertheless, large proportions of dyspnoea and haemoptysis presenters do not receive prompt chest imaging despite being eligible, indicating opportunities for earlier lung cancer diagnosis.

Introduction of a systematic examination framework for chronic cough: a before-after cohort study in a clinical setting

Cough is a condition that can be caused by several different mechanisms. There are numerous guidelines for diagnosing the cause of cough, yet the effect of a well-constructed examination framework has not been investigated. At the Department of Internal Medicine, Lillebaelt Hospital, Vejle, a systematic examination framework for diagnosing cough was introduced. Two hundred consecutive patients referred to the pulmonary outpatient clinic with cough were included. The first 100 patients (Group 1) were included before implementation of the examination framework and diagnosed as usual. The next 100 patients (Group 2) were examined using the systematic framework. The primary endpoint was the number of appointments required to establish a diagnosis. A multivariable Poisson regression was performed, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, pulmonary function (FEV1/FVC), duration of cough, and smoking status. A diagnosis was established within 1-2 visits in 47% in Group 1 compared to 83% in Group 2. When adjusting for confounders, fewer appointments was required to establish a diagnosis in Group 2 (Incidence rate ratio = 0.713 (95% confidence interval: 0.592-0.859), P = 0.000). Using a systematic examination framework for diagnosing cough may reduce the number of appointments required to establish a diagnosis, seemingly without compromising the diagnostic outcome.

Colorectal Cancer Survival in German-Danish Border Regions-A Registry-Based Cohort Study

The aim of this study was (i) to update the reporting of colorectal cancer survival differences over time in the German-Danish border region (Schleswig-Holstein, Southern Denmark, and Zealand) and (ii) to assess the extent to which it can be explained by stage and primary treatment. Incident invasive colorectal cancer cases diagnosed from 2004 to 2016 with a follow-up of vital status through 31 December 2017 were extracted from cancer registries. Analyses were conducted by anatomical subsite and for four consecutive periods. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were computed. Cox regression models using data from Schleswig-Holstein from 2004 to 2007 as the reference category were run while controlling for age, sex, stage, and treatment. The cox regression models showed decreasing hazard ratios of death for all three regions over time for both anatomical subsites. The improvement was stronger in the Danish regions, and adjustment for age, sex, stage, and treatment attenuated the results only slightly. In 2014-2016, colon cancer survival was similar across regions, while rectal cancer survival was significantly superior in the Danish regions. Regional survival differences can only partially be explained by differing stage distribution and treatment and may be linked additionally to healthcare system reforms and screening efforts.

Time duration and health care resource use during cancer diagnoses in the United States: A large claims database analysis

BACKGROUND: Cancer diagnostic pathways are highly variable and not clearly established in the United States, which can lead to a diagnosis process that takes more time and exposes patients to invasive or unnecessary procedures, delays in treatment, worsening patient outcomes, and elevated health care resource utilization (HRU) and health care system costs. OBJECTIVE: To investigate current trends in time to diagnosis and diagnostic-related HRU preceding the patient's cancer diagnosis across all cancer types in the United States. METHODS: A retrospective claims analysis was conducted on patients newly diagnosed with cancer identified from 2018-2019 using Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart database, which includes Medicare Advantage and commercially insured members. Patients were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes and were required to have at least 2 outpatient visits at least 30 days apart or at least 1 inpatient cancer visit without prior cancer claims. The first diagnostic test was identified based on an algorithm of a 60-day gap between diagnostic tests prior to diagnosis. The index date was defined as the first diagnostic test date or an office visit less than 4 weeks prior to the first diagnostic test date. Patient characteristics, time to diagnosis, and HRU were descriptively analyzed for all patients and by cancer type. RESULTS: Among the 458,818 patients newly diagnosed with cancer included in this analysis, the mean age was 70.6 years, approximately half were female, and most were White people (65.0%) with Medicare Advantage coverage (74.0%). Patients with cancer had an overall mean (SD) time to diagnosis of 156.2 (164.9) days and 15.4% of patients waited longer than 180 days before a cancer diagnosis. High heterogeneity among cancer types was observed, with a mean time to diagnosis ranging from 121.6 days (bladder cancer) to 229.0 days (multiple myeloma). Imaging resource use during the diagnostic pathway was high for radiology (60.7%), computerized tomography (50.8%), magnetic resonance imaging (48.6%), and ultrasound (42.6%). A total of 69.3% of patients had endoscopy without biopsy, 36.5% had endoscopy with biopsy, 62.5% had other biopsies, and most patients did general urine and serum tests (91.3%) and nongenetic cancer-specific laboratory tests (84.3%). Resource use was highly varied by cancer type but tended to increase with a longer time to diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of patients experiencing a diagnostic process of longer than 180 days is clinically and economically meaningful. Diagnostic-related HRU was significant and highly variable, highlighting the inefficiencies in the cancer diagnostic process in the United States and the need for policies, guidelines, or medical interventions to streamline cancer diagnostic pathways to optimize patient outcomes and reduce health care system burden. DISCLOSURES: Dr Cong is an employee of Grail, LLC, which supported this study. Drs Gitlin and McGarvey are employees of BluePath Solutions, and Ms Shivaprakash was an employee of BluePath Solutions, which received financial support from Grail, LLC, for study-related research activities. This study was sponsored by Grail, LLC, a subsidiary of Illumina Inc. currently held separate from Illumina Inc. under the terms of the Interim Measures Order of the European Commission dated October 29, 2021. The sponsor had no role in the collection, management, and analysis of the data. The sponsor contributed to study design and data interpretation.

Scandinavian Online Cancer Information as Expressions of Governmentality: A Comparative Qualitative Study

We compared online distributed information provided to patients with cancer in Scandinavian countries through the lens of governmentality. A secondary comparative qualitative analysis was conducted. Discourses in online patient information showed differences in governmentality techniques across the countries: Norway used a paternalist approach, Denmark an educative approach, and Sweden an individualistic approach and expected the patients to make the "right" decisions. Online information for patients with cancer in Denmark and Norway showed high professional and health care system involvement, whereas in Sweden, there was high patient involvement. There was almost no use of the person-centered approach among the online discourses.

Compliance with recommended cancer patient pathway timeframes and choice of treatment differed by cancer type and place of residence among cancer patients in Norway in 2015-2016

Background

Cancer patient pathways (CPPs) were implemented in Norway to reduce unnecessary waiting times, regional variations, and to increase the predictability of cancer care for the patients. This study aimed to determine if 70% of cancer patients started treatment within the recommended time frames, and to identify potential delays.

Methods

Patients registered with a colorectal, lung, breast, or prostate cancer diagnosis at the Cancer Registry of Norway in 2015–2016 were linked with the Norwegian Patient Registry and Statistics Norway. Adjusting for sociodemographic variables, multivariable quantile (median) regressions were used to examine the association between place of residence and median time to start of examination, treatment decision, and start of treatment.

Results

The study included 20 668 patients. The proportions of patients who went through the CPP within the recommended time frames were highest among colon (84%) and breast (76%) cancer patients who underwent surgery and lung cancer patients who started systemic anticancer treatment (76%), and lowest for prostate cancer patients who underwent surgery (43%). The time from treatment decision to start of treatment was the main source of delay for all cancers. Travelling outside the resident health trust prolonged waiting time and was associated with a reduced odds of receiving surgery and radiotherapy for lung and rectal cancer patients, respectively.

Conclusions

Achievement of national recommendations of the CCP times differed by cancer type and treatment. Identified bottlenecks in the pathway should be targeted to decrease waiting times. Further, CPP guidelines should be re-examined to determine their ongoing relevance.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09306-9.

Bibliometric analysis of cancer care operations management: current status, developments, and future directions

Around the world, cancer care services are facing many operational challenges. Operations management research can provide important solutions to these challenges, from screening and diagnosis to treatment. In recent years, the growth in the number of papers published on cancer care operations management (CCOM) indicates that development has been fast. Within this context, the objective of this research was to understand the evolution of CCOM through a comprehensive study and an up-to-date bibliometric analysis of the literature. To achieve this aim, the Web of Science Core Collection database was used as the source of bibliographic records. The data-mining and quantitative tools in the software Biblioshiny were used to analyze CCOM articles published from 2010 to 2021. First, a historical analysis described CCOM research, the sources, and the subfields. Second, an analysis of keywords highlighted the significant developments in this field. Third, an analysis of research themes identified three main directions for future research in CCOM, which has 11 evolutionary paths. Finally, this paper discussed the gaps in CCOM research and the areas that require further investigation and development.

Equitable access to cancer patient pathways in Norway - a national registry-based study

Background

In 2015, cancer patient pathways (CPP) were implemented in Norway to reduce unnecessary non-medical delay in the diagnostic process and start of treatment. The main aim of this study was to investigate the equality in access to CPPs for patients with either lung, colorectal, breast or prostate cancer in Norway.

Methods

National population-based data on individual level from 2015 to 2017 were used to study two proportions; i) patients in CPPs without the cancer diagnosis, and ii) cancer patients included in CPPs. Logistic regression was applied to examine the associations between these proportions and place of residence (hospital referral area), age, education, income, comorbidity and travel time to hospital.

Results

Age and place of residence were the two most important factors for describing the variation in proportions. For the CPP patients, inconsistent differences were found for income and education, while for the cancer patients the probability of being included in a CPP increased with income.

Conclusions

The age effect can be related to both the increasing risk of cancer and increasing number of GP and hospital contacts with age. The non-systematic results for CPP patients according to income and education can be interpreted as equitable access, as opposed to the systematic differences found among cancer patients in different income groups. The inequalities between income groups among cancer patients and the inequalities based on the patients’ place of residence, for both CPP and cancer patients, are unwarranted and need to be addressed.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at (10.1186/s12913-021-07250-1).

The sarcoma diagnostic interval: a systematic review on length, contributing factors and patient outcomes

Sarcomas are rare and heterogeneous mesenchymal tumours of soft tissue or bone, making them prone to late diagnosis. In other malignancies, early diagnosis has an impact on stage of disease, complexity of therapeutic procedures, survival and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Little is known about what length of diagnostic interval should be considered as delay in patients with bone (BS) or soft tissue sarcomas (STS). To quantify total interval (defined as time from first symptom to histological diagnosis) and its components, identify contributing factors to its length and determine the impact on patients’ outcome in terms of mortality and HRQoL. A systematic review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Seventy-six articles out of 2310 met the predefined inclusion criteria. Total intervals, varied broadly; 9–120.4 weeks for BS and 4.3–614.9 weeks for STS. Older age and no initial radiological examinations were contributing factors for a long interval in BS, while in STS results were conflicting. The impact of length of total interval on clinical outcomes in terms of survival and morbidity remains ambiguous; no clear relation could be identified for both BS and STS. No study examined the impact on HRQoL. The length of total interval is variable in BS as well as STS. Its effect on outcomes is contradictory. There is no definition of a clinically relevant cut-off point that discriminates between a short or long total interval. Prospero: CRD42017062492.

When time matters: a qualitative study on hospital staff's strategies for meeting the target times in cancer patient pathways

Background

Cancer patient pathways (CPPs) were introduced in Norway in 2015. CPPs are time-bound standardised care pathways that describe the organisation of and responsibilities for diagnostics and treatment, as well as communication with the patient and next of kin. The aim is to ensure that cancer patients experience a well-organised, coherent and predictable pathway without any delays in assessment and diagnostics caused by non-medical reasons. Preventing delays in diagnostics by meeting specific target times is central to the successful implementation of CPPs. The aim of this paper is to describe how hospital staff cope with the increased focus on meeting CPP target times and the measures and strategies implemented by hospitals and their staff.

Methods

Data for this paper were collected in a larger study on implementation and experiences with CPPs among hospital staff, general practitioners, and patients in Norway (2017–2020). The study had a qualitative cross-sectional design, and data were collected through interviews. This article is based on semi-structured interviews with hospital staff (N = 60) in five hospitals.

Results

Hospital staff are highly aware of the target times, and try to comply with them, in the interest of both the patients and the hospitals. The implementation of CPPs was not accompanied by the allocation of additional resources; therefore, hospitals could not simply increase capacity to meet the target times. Instead, they had to develop other strategies. Four categories of strategies were identified: (i) introducing new roles and more staff, (ii) reorganising the workflow, (iii) gaming the system and (iv) outsourcing services.

Conclusions

Hospital staff are torn between meeting the target times and a lack of resources and capacity. This is not unusual in the current healthcare context, where staff face organisational reforms and increasing demands on a regular basis. It is important to recognise frontline workers’ efforts towards realising new organisational changes. Therefore, carefully weighing the benefits against the costs and undertaking the necessary planning are important in the design and implementation of future care and treatment pathways for patients.

Head and neck sarcomas: the first report addressing the duration of symptoms and diagnostic work up

Background: Head and neck sarcomas are rare and difficult to diagnose and manage.Aim: To describe a population of patients with head and neck sarcomas focusing on the effect of symptom duration and time to diagnosis on mortality and recurrence risk.Materials and methods: Fifty-one patients treated in our department between 1998-2013 were retrospectively included. Patient and tumour characteristics as well as dates of interest were obtained from sarcoma registries, charts and pathology records. The effect of symptom duration and time to diagnosis on mortality and risk of recurrence was tested by multivariate analysis.Results: There was a wide range in symptom duration (1-144 months, median 5) and time for diagnosis (0-234 days, median 14) without significant effect on overall mortality, disease-specific mortality or risk of recurrence. Chondrosarcomas in the larynx dominated among the patients with the longest diagnostic duration.Conclusion and significance: The diagnostic process is challenging and in some cases of extremely long duration without effect on mortality. The symptom duration and time to diagnosis in relation to mortality and risk of recurrence has not previously been described. Early biopsy, better imaging and advanced pathological techniques can hopefully speed up the diagnostic process and reduce morbidity and mortality.

Patient and tumour characteristics associated with inclusion in Cancer patient pathways in Norway in 2015-2016

BACKGROUND

Cancer patient pathways (CPPs) were implemented in 2015 to reduce waiting time, regional variation in waiting time, and to increase the predictability of cancer care for the patients. The aims of this study were to see if the national target of 70% of all cancer patients being included in a CPP was met, and to identify factors associated with CPP inclusion.

METHODS

All patients registered with a colorectal, lung, breast or prostate cancer diagnosis at the Cancer Registry of Norway in the period 2015-2016 were linked with the Norwegian Patient Registry for CPP information and with Statistics Norway for sociodemographic variables. Multivariable logistic regression examined if the odds of not being included in a CPP were associated with year of diagnosis, age, sex, tumour stage, marital status, education, income, region of residence and comorbidity.

RESULTS

From 2015 to 2016, 30,747 patients were diagnosed with colorectal, lung, breast or prostate cancer, of whom 24,429 (79.5%) were included in a CPP. Significant increases in the probability of being included in a CPP were observed for colorectal (79.1 to 86.2%), lung (79.0 to 87.3%), breast (91.5 to 97.2%) and prostate cancer (62.2 to 76.2%) patients (p < 0.001). Increasing age was associated with an increased odds of not being included in a CPP for lung (p < 0.001) and prostate cancer (p < 0.001) patients. Colorectal cancer patients < 50 years of age had a two-fold increase (OR = 2.23, 95% CI: 1.70-2.91) in the odds of not being included in a CPP. The odds of no CPP inclusion were significantly increased for low income colorectal (OR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.00-1.54) and lung (OR = 1.52, 95%CI: 1.16-1.99) cancer patients. Region of residence was significantly associated with CPP inclusion (p < 0.001) and the probability, adjusted for case-mix ranged from 62.4% in region West among prostate cancer patients to 97.6% in region North among breast cancer patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The national target of 70% was met within 1 year of CPP implementation in Norway. Although all patients should have equal access to CPPs, a prostate cancer diagnosis, older age, high level of comorbidity or low income were significantly associated with an increased odds of not being included in a CPP.

Decreasing waiting time for treatment before and during implementation of cancer patient pathways in Norway

BACKGROUND

In 2015, Norway implemented cancer patient pathways to reduce waiting times for treatment. The aims of this paper were to describe patterns in waiting time and their association with patient characteristics for colorectal, lung, breast and prostate cancers.

METHODS

National, population-based data from 2007 to 2016 were used. A multivariable quantile regression examined the association between treatment period, age, stage, sex, place of residence, and median waiting times.

RESULTS

Reduction in median waiting times for radiotherapy among colorectal, lung and prostate cancer patients ranged from 14 to 50 days. Median waiting time for surgery remained approximately 21 days for both colorectal and breast cancers, while it decreased by 7 and 36 days for lung and prostate cancers, respectively. The proportion of lung and prostate cancer patients with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis decreased, while the proportion of colorectal patients with localised disease and patients with stage I breast cancer increased (p < 0.001). After adjusting for case-mix, a patient's place of residence was significantly associated with waiting time for treatment (p < 0.001), however, differences in waiting time to treatment decreased over the study period.

CONCLUSIONS

Between 2007 and 2016, Norway experienced improved stage distributions and consistently decreasing waiting times for treatment. While these improvements occurred gradually, no significant change was observed from the time of cancer patient pathway implementation.

Use of Healthcare Services Two Years before Diagnosis in Danish Sarcoma Patients, 2000-2013

Background

Sarcoma is a rare type of cancer with nonspecific symptoms and uncertain aetiology. Thus, timely diagnosis of sarcomas is a clinical challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of healthcare services 24 months preceding a sarcoma diagnosis compared to a matched cohort.

Materials and Methods

The study was a retrospective, population-based, matched cohort registry-study. Patients with sarcoma in Denmark in 2000–2013 were identified in the Danish Sarcoma Registry (n = 2167) and matched 1 : 10 on gender, age, and listed general practice. Using a binomial regression model, incidence rate ratios were calculated for face-to-face contacts in general practice, inpatient and outpatient visits, surgery, paraclinical examinations, and diagnostic imaging. Analyses were stratified for sarcoma subtypes, grade, stage, gender, and presence of comorbidity.

Results

The sarcoma patients had significantly increased incidence rate ratios in use of healthcare services compared to the matched cohort a year before their diagnoses. An increase in consultation rates was seen 11 months before diagnosis for inpatient visits, 9 months before diagnosis in general practice and outpatient visits, 8 months before diagnosis for paraclinical examinations, and 4 and 3 months before diagnosis for diagnostic imaging and surgery, respectively. There were no clinical significant differences in length of increased consultation rates between sarcoma type, stage, and grade. Sarcoma patients with comorbidity had persistently higher consultation rates compared to patients without comorbidity.

Conclusions

The use of healthcare services among sarcoma patients increased several months before diagnosis in all healthcare sectors. The results reveal a diagnostic time window and a potential to refer, diagnose, and treat sarcoma patients in a timelier manner.

Cancer patients' experiences with urgent referrals to cancer patient pathways

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to explore whether cancer patients urgently referred to a cancer patient pathway (CPP) (CPP referred) by a general practitioner report experiences of pre-diagnosis cancer care differently than patients not referred to a CPP (non-CPP referred).

METHODS

Data were collected from cross-sectional questionnaire surveys among cancer patients and their GPs and linked to National registries. Poisson regression was used to generate adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) to compare reported experiences.

RESULTS

The study included 2,256 individuals. CPP referred patients reported more positive overall experiences of the pre-diagnosis phase (p < 0.001). Overall, CPP referred patients were 21% more likely than non-CPP referred patients to report a positive experience after adjustment for case-mix, comorbidity, disposable household income and educational level (PR = 1.21 [95% CI: 1.11-1.30]). The difference decreased to 14% when adjusted for Quality Deviations (PR = 1.14 [95% CI: 1.06-1.23]) and to 11% when adjusted for diagnostic interval (PR = 1.11 [95% CI: 1.02-1.20]).

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that CPP referred cancer patients have better experiences of pre-diagnosis cancer care compared to non-CPP referred patients. A substantial part of the difference could be attributed to shorter diagnostic intervals and/or the absence of quality deviations among CPP patients, which reveals the potential for generally improving cancer patients' experiences by seamless and optimised diagnostic pathways.

The impact of comorbidity on mortality in Danish sarcoma patients from 2000-2013: A nationwide population-based multicentre study

INTRODUCTION

Sarcoma is a rare type of cancer. The incidence increases with age and elderly patients may have comorbidity that affects the prognosis. The aim of this study was to describe the type and prevalence of comorbidity in a nationwide population-based study in Denmark from 2000-2013 and to analyse the impact of the different comorbidities on mortality.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The Danish Sarcoma Registry is a national clinical database containing all patients with sarcoma in the extremities or trunk wall from 2000 and onwards. By linking data to other registries, we were able to get patient information on an individual level including date and cause of death as well as the comorbidity type up to 10 years prior to the sarcoma diagnosis. Based on diseases in the Charlson Comorbidity Index, we pooled the patients into six categories: no comorbidity, cardiopulmonary disease, gastrointestinal disease, neurovascular disease, malignant neoplasms, and miscellaneous (diabetes, renal and connective tissue diseases). 2167 patients were included.

RESULTS

The prevalence of comorbidity was 20%. For patients with localized disease, comorbidity increased the disease-specific mortality significantly (HR 1.70 (95% CI 1.36-2.13)). For patients with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, comorbidity did not affect the disease-specific mortality (HR 1.05 (95% CI 0.78-1.42)). The presence of another cancer diagnosis within 10 years prior to the sarcoma diagnosis was the only significant independent prognostic factor of disease-specific mortality with an increase of 66% in mortality rate compared to patients with no comorbidity (HR 1,66 (95% CI 1.22-2.25)).

CONCLUSION

Comorbidity is a strong independent prognostic factor of mortality in patients with localized disease. This study emphasizes the need for optimizing the general health of comorbid patients in order to achieve a survival benefit from treatment of patients with localized disease, as this is potentially modifiable.

Implementing large scale fast track diagnostics in a comprehensive cancer center, pre- and post-measurement data

Background

In general, patients with a cancer suspicion visit the hospital multiple times before diagnosis is completed. Using various “operations management” techniques a few fast track diagnostic services were implemented in the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in 2006. Growing patient numbers and increasing process complexity, led to diminished service levels. To decrease the amount of patient visits and to extend these services beyond the (obvious) breast cancer services, fast track diagnostics is now implemented for all 18 cancer types that present with a frequency of minimally one per week.

Methods

The throughput time (first visit to diagnosis conversation) was measured before, and after implementation of fast track diagnostics. The process was redesigned closely involving the multidisciplinary teams. In an eclectic approach elements from lean management, theory of constraints and mathematical analysis were used to organize slots per tumor type for MRI, CT, PET and echography. A post measurement was performed after 3 and 6 months.

Results

In pre measurement access time was calculated to be 10 to 15 workdays, mean throughput time was 6.0 workdays. It proved possible to design the process of 18 tumors as a fast track, of which 7 as “one stop shop” (diagnosis completed in one visit). Involvement of clinical- and board leadership, massive communication efforts and commitment of physicians to reschedule their work proved decisive. After 3 and 6 months of implementation, the mean access time was 8.2 and 8.7 workdays respectively and mean throughput time was 3.4 and 3.3 workdays respectively.

Conclusions

Throughput- and access time were considerably shortened after implementation of fast track diagnostics for 18 cancer types. The involvement of physicians in reorganizing their work and rapid responding to their needs during the implementation phase were a crucial success factor.

Imaging investigations before referral to a sarcoma center delay the final diagnosis of musculoskeletal sarcoma

Background and purpose - The use of point-of-care or local investigations before referral to specialist sarcoma centers as part of a fast-track diagnostic pathway varies, and may affect the time to diagnosis. We wanted to investigate differences in time intervals and proportion of malignancy in patients who were referred after initial diagnostic investigations were performed locally and in patients who were referred without these investigations. Patients and methods - We included 545 consecutive patients who were referred to Aarhus Sarcoma Center for suspected musculoskeletal sarcoma. Data on time intervals and investigations performed were collected from questionnaires and patient records. Patients who were referred from outside Aarhus uptake area after initial MRI/CT or histology performed locally were compared with patients who were referred from Aarhus uptake area without these investigations. Results - The median total interval from first symptom to diagnosis was 166 days for outside patients referred with MRI/CT or histology, which was 91 (95% CI: 76-106) days longer than for local patients who were referred without MRI/CT or histology. Comparing the same groups, the median diagnostic interval was 41 (95% CI: 30-51) days longer for outside patients including both primary care and hospital intervals. Both the proportion of malignancies (38% vs. 14%) and the proportion of sarcomas (24% vs. 7%) were higher in the outside group referred with MRI/CT or histology than in the local group without MRI/CT or histology. Interpretation - Pre-referral investigations at a local hospital increased the diagnostic interval by at least 1 month for 50% of the patients, and the proportion of malignancy was more than doubled-to almost 40%. If investigations are to be performed before referral to a sarcoma center, they should be part of the fast-track pathway in order to ensure timely diagnosis.

Routes to Diagnosis for Suspected Sarcoma: The Impact of Symptoms and Clinical Findings on the Diagnostic Process

Background and Objectives. Sarcoma patients often experience delay before diagnosis. We examined the association between presenting symptoms/signs and time intervals for suspected sarcoma patients. Methods. 545 consecutive patients suspected for sarcoma referred over a one-year period were included. Median time intervals in routes to diagnosis were collected from medical records and questionnaires. Results. 102 patients (18.7%) had a sarcoma; 68 (12.5%) had other malignancies. Median interval for the patient (time from first symptom to first doctor visit), primary care, local hospital, sarcoma center, diagnostic, and total interval for sarcoma patients were 77, 17, 29, 17, 65, and 176 days, respectively. Sarcoma patients visited more hospital departments and had longer median primary care (+10 days) and diagnostic intervals (+19 days) than patients with benign conditions. Median primary care (−19 days) and sarcoma center (−4 days) intervals were shorter for patients with a lump versus no lump. Median patient (+40 days), primary care (+12 days), diagnostic (+17 days), and total intervals (+78 days) were longer for patients presenting with pain versus no pain. GP suspicion of malignancy shortened local hospital (−20 days) and total intervals (−104 days). Conclusions. The main part of delay could be attributed to the patient and local hospitals. Length of time intervals was associated with presenting symptoms/signs and GP suspicion.

The Danish Sarcoma Database

AIM

The aim of the database is to gather information about sarcomas treated in Denmark in order to continuously monitor and improve the quality of sarcoma treatment in a local, a national, and an international perspective.

STUDY POPULATION

Patients in Denmark diagnosed with a sarcoma, both skeletal and ekstraskeletal, are to be registered since 2009.

MAIN VARIABLES

The database contains information about appearance of symptoms; date of receiving referral to a sarcoma center; date of first visit; whether surgery has been performed elsewhere before referral, diagnosis, and treatment; tumor characteristics such as location, size, malignancy grade, and growth pattern; details on treatment (kind of surgery, amount of radiation therapy, type and duration of chemotherapy); complications of treatment; local recurrence and metastases; and comorbidity. In addition, several quality indicators are registered in order to measure the quality of care provided by the hospitals and make comparisons between hospitals and with international standards.

DESCRIPTIVE DATA

Demographic patient-specific data such as age, sex, region of living, comorbidity, World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases - tenth edition codes and TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours, and date of death (after yearly coupling to the Danish Civil Registration System). Data quality and completeness are currently secured.

CONCLUSION

The Danish Sarcoma Database is population based and includes sarcomas occurring in Denmark since 2009. It is a valuable tool for monitoring sarcoma incidence and quality of treatment and its improvement, postoperative complications, and recurrence within 5 years follow-up. The database is also a valuable research tool to study the impact of technical and medical interventions on prognosis of sarcoma patients.

Characteristics of 64 sarcoma patients referred to a sarcoma center after unplanned excision

BACKGROUND AND METHODS

Unplanned excision of sarcoma before referral to specialist centers can affect prognosis and surgical outcome. The diagnostic pathway of these patients is uncertain and needs to be reviewed. We aimed to describe patient and tumor characteristics, initial symptoms, initial and final diagnosis, and explore reasons for unplanned excision in this patient group. From a previous study on 258 sarcoma patients, we identified 64 patients referred after surgery. Medical records were reviewed.

RESULTS

The majority were soft tissue sarcomas, most often with thoracic location. Leiomyosarcoma was the most frequent final diagnosis, lipoma, and fibroma/dermatofibroma the most frequent initial diagnoses. Fifty percent were superficial small tumors, and 60.9% had not received diagnostic imaging before surgery. Fifty percent were referred from public surgical departments, and 1/3 from private specialists. Twenty-three patients had initial presence of alarm symptoms registered before surgery, the remaining 2/3 fell outside referral criteria or alarm symptoms were not discovered.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients referred after unplanned excision often have small superficial tumors and the majority fall outside of defined referral criteria. Referral criteria are not a guarantee for detection of all sarcomas and surgeons should always be aware of the possibility of malignancy when removing a tumor.

Use of the English urgent referral pathway for suspected cancer and mortality in patients with cancer: cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the overall effect of the English urgent referral pathway on cancer survival.

SETTING

8049 general practices in England.

DESIGN

Cohort study. Linked information from the national Cancer Waiting Times database, NHS Exeter database, and National Cancer Register was used to estimate mortality in patients in relation to the propensity of their general practice to use the urgent referral pathway.

PARTICIPANTS

215,284 patients with cancer, diagnosed or first treated in England in 2009 and followed up to 2013.

OUTCOME MEASURE

Hazard ratios for death from any cause, as estimated from a Cox proportional hazards regression.

RESULTS

During four years of follow-up, 91,620 deaths occurred, of which 51,606 (56%) occurred within the first year after diagnosis. Two measures of the propensity to use urgent referral, the standardised referral ratio and the detection rate, were associated with reduced mortality. The hazard ratio for the combination of high referral ratio and high detection rate was 0.96 (95% confidence interval 0.94 to 0.99), applying to 16% (n=34,758) of the study population. Patients with cancer who were registered with general practices with the lowest use of urgent referral had an excess mortality (hazard ratio 1.07 (95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.08); 37% (n=79,416) of the study population). The comparator group for these two hazard ratios was the remaining 47% (n=101,110) of the study population. This result in mortality was consistent for different types of cancer (apart from breast cancer) and with other stratifications of the dataset, and was not sensitive to adjustment for potential confounders and other details of the statistical model.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of the urgent referral pathway could be efficacious. General practices that consistently have a low propensity to use urgent referrals could consider increasing the use of this pathway to improve the survival of their patients with cancer.

DaPeCa-2: Implementation of fast-track clinical pathways for penile cancer shortens waiting time and accelerates the diagnostic process--A comparative before-and-after study in a tertiary referral centre in Denmark

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility and impact of a fast-track referral pathway on clinical time intervals in penile cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This observational study from a tertiary referral centre included 263 patients diagnosed before and after the introduction of an intervention to reduce clinical time intervals, the Cancer Patient Pathway (CPP). The CPP included fast-track referral and set time-frames for units participating in cancer diagnosis and treatment, and was introduced for penile cancer in Denmark on 1 January 2009. Median time intervals (in calendar days) with interquartile range were the main outcome measure.

RESULTS

A trend towards reduction was observed in all clinical time intervals, with a statistically significant reduction in the system interval (p = 0.01) and tertiary centre interval (p < 0.0001). The proportion of patients treated within the maximum accepted time-frame of 37 days after referral steadily increased after implementation of the CPP. In particular, unjustified waiting time was reduced significantly. This was mainly achieved through pre-booking of appointments and diagnostic time slots by a dedicated clinical coordinator.

CONCLUSIONS

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study examining the feasibility and impact of an intervention to reduce clinical time intervals in penile cancer. The Danish CPP was successful in reducing system and tertiary centre intervals. Future interventions need to address the long patient interval. Longer follow-up is needed to study the impact of CPP on mortality.

A differentiated approach to referrals from general practice to support early cancer diagnosis - the Danish three-legged strategy

When aiming to provide more expedited cancer diagnosis and treatment of cancer at an earlier stage, it is important to take into account the symptom epidemiology throughout the pathway, from first bodily sensation until the start of cancer treatment. This has implications for how primary-care providers interpret the presentation and decisions around patient management and investigation. Symptom epidemiology has consequences for how the health-care system might best be organised. This paper argues for and describes the organisation of the Danish three-legged strategy in diagnosing cancer, which includes urgent referral pathways for symptoms suspicious of a specific cancer, urgent referral to diagnostic centres when we need quick and profound evaluation of patients with nonspecific, serious symptoms and finally easy and fast access to ‘No-Yes-Clinics' for cancer investigations for those patients with common symptoms in whom the diagnosis of cancer should not be missed. The organisation of the health-care system must reflect the reality of symptoms presented in primary care. The organisational change is evaluated and monitored with a comprehensive research agenda, data infrastructure and education.

Alarm symptoms of soft-tissue and bone sarcoma in patients referred to a specialist center

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Danish Cancer Patient Pathway for sarcoma defines a set of alarm symptoms as criteria for referral to a sarcoma center. This may exclude cancer patients without alarm symptoms, so we investigated the presence of alarm symptoms (defined as being indicative of a sarcoma) in patients who had been referred to the Aarhus Sarcoma Center.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We reviewed the medical records of all 1,126 patients who had been referred, with suspected sarcoma, from other hospitals in the period 2007-2010 for information on symptoms, clinical findings, and diagnosis. Alarm symptoms were analyzed for predictive values in diagnosing sarcoma.

RESULTS

179 (69%) of 258 sarcoma patients were referred with alarm symptoms (soft-tissue tumor>5 cm or deep-seated, fast-growing soft-tissue tumor, palpable bone tumor, or deep persisting bone pain). The remaining 79 sarcomas were found accidentally. "Size over 5 cm" for soft-tissue tumors, and "deep persisting bone pain" for bone tumors had the highest sensitivity and positive predictive value. Of the 79 sarcoma patients who were referred without alarm symptoms, 7 were found accidentally on imaging, 5 were referred with suspected recurrence of a sarcoma, 64 were referred with a confirmed histological diagnosis, and 3 were referred for other reasons.

INTERPRETATION

Defined alarm symptoms are predictive of sarcoma, but one-third of the patients were found accidentally. Further studies on presenting symptoms in primary care are needed to assess the true value of alarm symptoms.

A geographical cluster randomised stepped wedge study of continuing medical education and cancer diagnosis in general practice

Background

Denmark has inferior cancer survival rates compared with many European countries. The main reason for this is suggested to be late diagnosis at advanced cancer stages. Cancer diagnostic work-up begins in general practice in 85% of all cancer cases. Thus, general practitioners (GPs) play a key role in the diagnostic process. The latest Danish Cancer Plan included continuing medical education (CME) on early cancer diagnosis in general practice to improve early diagnosis. This dual aims of this protocol are, first, to describe the conceptualisation, operationalisation and implementation of the CME and, second, to describe the study design and outcomes chosen to evaluate the effects of the CME.

Methods/Design

The intervention is a CME in early cancer diagnosis targeting individual GPs. It was developed by a step-wise approach. Barriers for early cancer diagnosis at GP level were identified systematically and analysed using the behaviour system involving capability, opportunity and motivation described by Michie et al. The study will be designed as a geographical cluster randomised stepped wedge study. The study population counts 836 GPs from 417 general practices in the Central Denmark Region, geographically divided into eight clusters. GPs from each cluster will be invited to a CME meeting at a certain date three weeks apart. The primary outcomes will be primary care interval and GP referral rate on cancer suspicion. Data will be obtained from national registries, GP-completed forms on patients referred to cancer fast-track pathways and GP-completed online questionnaires before and after the intervention.

Discussion

To our knowledge, this will be the first study to measure the effect of a theory-based CME in early cancer diagnosis at three levels: GP knowledge and attitude, GP activity and patient outcomes. The achieved knowledge will contribute to the understanding of whether and how general practice’s ability to perform cancer diagnosis may be improved.

Trial registration

Registered as NCT02069470 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13012-014-0159-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.