Nirmala Rai1, James Nevin1, Gabrielle Downey1, Parveen Abedin2, Moji Balogun2, Sean Kehoe3, Sudha Sundar4. 1. Pan Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre. Dudley Road, West Midlands B18 7QH, Birmingham, United Kingdom. 2. Birmingham Womens Hospital, Mindelsohn Way, Birmingham, West Midlands B15 2TG, United Kingdom. 3. Pan Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre. Dudley Road, West Midlands B18 7QH, Birmingham, United Kingdom; School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom. 4. Pan Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre. Dudley Road, West Midlands B18 7QH, Birmingham, United Kingdom; School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom. Electronic address: s.s.sundar@bham.ac.uk.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: UK is the first country to implement symptom triggered testing for suspected ovarian cancer (OC) following guidance from National Institute of Clinical Excellence in 2011. We evaluated its impact on cancer outcomes and implications on clinical practice. STUDY DESIGN: This is a cohort study and we analysed data for all new urgent referrals for suspected OC from two large teaching hospitals using a prospectively collected electronic referral database, supplemented with clinical data from electronic records. We evaluated outcomes prior to (2011) and after (2013) implementation of guidance to evaluate stage shift, referrals workload and surgical procedures generated. RESULTS: Secondary care received 2185 new referrals from primary care for women with suspected gynaecological cancer in post guideline cohort. Of these, 217 women were referred for suspected OC. 90% of primary care referrals were not compliant with guidance. Following implementation of guidance, more women with OC were diagnosed through urgent referral (rapid access clinics): Almost double, 21 of the total 67 (31.34%) OCs in 2013 (post guidance) in comparison to only 11 of 69 OCs (15.94%) were diagnosed in 2011 (pre guidance) through urgent referrals, p=0.03. The predictive value of detecting cancer through rapid access clinics increased, from 4.5% to 9.6%, p=0.04; however, no stage shift was noted. Over 25% of patients underwent surgeries for non-malignant conditions in the post-guideline cohort. No increase was seen in workload of cancer clinics. CONCLUSION: Implementation of Symptom-triggered testing is challenging in clinical practice. Such testing results in more patients with OC accessing expedited care pathways leading to streamlined routes of diagnosis and care. However, current implementation does not lead to stage shift in diagnosis and may not achieve significant mortality benefit.
OBJECTIVES: UK is the first country to implement symptom triggered testing for suspected ovarian cancer (OC) following guidance from National Institute of Clinical Excellence in 2011. We evaluated its impact on cancer outcomes and implications on clinical practice. STUDY DESIGN: This is a cohort study and we analysed data for all new urgent referrals for suspected OC from two large teaching hospitals using a prospectively collected electronic referral database, supplemented with clinical data from electronic records. We evaluated outcomes prior to (2011) and after (2013) implementation of guidance to evaluate stage shift, referrals workload and surgical procedures generated. RESULTS: Secondary care received 2185 new referrals from primary care for women with suspected gynaecological cancer in post guideline cohort. Of these, 217 women were referred for suspected OC. 90% of primary care referrals were not compliant with guidance. Following implementation of guidance, more women with OC were diagnosed through urgent referral (rapid access clinics): Almost double, 21 of the total 67 (31.34%) OCs in 2013 (post guidance) in comparison to only 11 of 69 OCs (15.94%) were diagnosed in 2011 (pre guidance) through urgent referrals, p=0.03. The predictive value of detecting cancer through rapid access clinics increased, from 4.5% to 9.6%, p=0.04; however, no stage shift was noted. Over 25% of patients underwent surgeries for non-malignant conditions in the post-guideline cohort. No increase was seen in workload of cancer clinics. CONCLUSION: Implementation of Symptom-triggered testing is challenging in clinical practice. Such testing results in more patients with OC accessing expedited care pathways leading to streamlined routes of diagnosis and care. However, current implementation does not lead to stage shift in diagnosis and may not achieve significant mortality benefit.
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