Routes to Diagnosis for Suspected Sarcoma: The Impact of Symptoms and Clinical Findings on the Diagnostic Process
Table 4
Routes to diagnosis for 545 patients referred to the Cancer Patient Pathway for sarcomas.
Benign
Other malignancies
Sarcomas
Total population
First physician patient presented to (n (%))
GP
320 (85.3)
47 (69.1)
89 (87.3)
456 (83.7)
Private specialist
3 (0.8)
1 (1.5)
2 (2.0)
6 (1.1)
Hospital doctor
44 (11.7)
18 (26.5)
9 (8.8)
71 (13.0)
Out of hours GP
2 (2.9)
2 (2.9)
2 (2.0)
9 (1.7)
Other
3 (0.8)
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)
3 (0.6)
GP initially suspected malignancy
Yes
94 (30.6)
25 (46.8)
27 (32.9)
146 (33.5)
No
213 (69.4)
22 (53.2)
55 (67.1)
290 (66.5)
Number of GP visits
Mean (SD)
1.4 (0.9)
1.5 (1.0)
1.6 (1.1)
1.4 (0.9)
Median (IQI)
1 (1-1)
1 (1-2)
1 (1-2)
1 (1-2)
Number of hospital departments visited
Mean (SD)
0.8 (0.7)
1.1 (0.6)
1.1 (0.7)
0.9 (0.7)
Median (IQI)
1 (0-1)
1 (1-1)
1 (1-1)
1 (0-1)
Referral with histological diagnosis of sarcoma (n (%))
Yes
4 (1.1)
5 (7.4)
31 (30.4)
40 (7.3)
No
371 (98.9)
63 (92.7)
71 (69.6)
505 (92.7)
Referred with regrowth of previously removed tumor (n (%))
Yes
4 (1.1)
1 (1.5)
11 (10.8)
16 (2.9)
No
371 (98.9)
67 (98.5)
91 (89.2)
529 (97.1)
Referred after incidental findings on imaging (n (%))
Yes
33 (8.8)
9 (13.2)
5 (4.9)
47 (8.6)
No
342 (91.2)
59 (86.8)
97 (95.1)
498 (91.4)
Referred with suspected recurrence of previous sarcoma (n (%))
Yes
6 (1.6)
0 (0.0)
7 (6.9)
13 (2.4)
No
369 (98.4)
68 (100.0)
95 (93.1)
532 (97.6)
One patient presented to her father who was a doctor, one patient was a doctor and referred himself, and one patient presented to a friend who was a doctor. Percentages calculated from the total of patients who had data available for this variable, meaning that the patient had been seen by their GP and the GP had provided an answer for this question ( for benign conditions, for other malignancies, for sarcomas, and for the total population). Trend towards a higher number for sarcoma patients compared to patients with benign conditions (). Significantly higher for sarcoma patients compared to patients with benign conditions and for patients with other malignancies compared to patients with benign conditions .
