title: The Danish cancer pathway for patients with serious non-specific symptoms and signs of cancer-a cross-sectional study of patient characteristics and cancer probability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A Danish cancer pathway has been implemented for patients with serious non-specific symptoms and signs of cancer (NSSC-CPP). The initiative is one of several to improve the long diagnostic interval and the poor survival of Danish cancer patients. However, little is known about the patients investigated under this pathway. We aim to describe the characteristics of patients referred from general practice to the NSSC-CPP and to estimate the cancer probability and distribution in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed, including all patients referred to the NSSC-CPP at the hospitals in Aarhus or Silkeborg in the Central Denmark Region between March 2012 and March 2013. Data were based on a questionnaire completed by the patient's general practitioner (GP) combined with nationwide registers. Cancer probability was the percentage of new cancers per investigated patient. Associations between patient characteristics and cancer diagnosis were estimated with prevalence rate ratios (PRRs) from a generalised linear model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of all 1278 included patients was 65.9 years, and 47.5 % were men. In total, 16.2 % of all patients had a cancer diagnosis after six months; the most common types were lung cancer (17.9 %), colorectal cancer (12.6 %), hematopoietic tissue cancer (10.1 %) and pancreatic cancer (9.2 %). All patients in combination had more than 80 different symptoms and 51 different clinical findings at referral. Most symptoms were non-specific and vague; weight loss and fatigue were present in more than half of all cases. The three most common clinical findings were 'affected general condition' (35.8 %), 'GP's gut feeling' (22.5 %) and 'findings from the abdomen' (13.0 %). A strong association was found between GP-estimated cancer risk at referral and probability of cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In total, 16.2 % of the patients referred through the NSSC-CPP had cancer. They constituted a heterogeneous group with many different symptoms and clinical findings. The GP's gut feeling was a common reason for referral which proved to be a strong predictor of cancer. The GP's overall estimation of the patient's risk of cancer at referral was associated with the probability of finding cancer.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. mads.ingeman@feap.dk.|Research Centre for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care (CaP), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. mads.ingeman@feap.dk.|Department of Public Health, Section for General Medical Practice, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. mads.ingeman@feap.dk.
authors.forename: Mads Lind
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ingeman
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. mbc@ph.au.dk.
authors.forename: Morten Bondo
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. fbro@feap.dk.
authors.forename: Flemming
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bro
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine (MEA), Aarhus University Hospital, Noerrebrogade, Aarhus, Denmark. soerknud@rm.dk.
authors.forename: Søren T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. p.vedsted@feap.dk.|Research Centre for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care (CaP), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. p.vedsted@feap.dk.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vedsted
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D055815:Young Adult