Blog by Dr Fiona Walter, head of the Cancer Group at the Primary Care Unit and Director of the CanTest Collaborative A crisis is looming for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers, one grounded only partly in the steady increase in their overall incidence. Public demand for diagnostic tests to be undertaken early and at lower […]
Understanding symptom appraisal and help-seeking in people with symptoms suggestive of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is the ninth most common cancer in the UK, with about 8000 cases diagnosed every year. Only 22% men and 20% women currently survive pancreatic cancer for 1 year or more, and it has the poorest 5-year survival rates of all cancers at less than 4%. This poor prognosis is mainly due to patients […]
£5m CRUK award for Cambridge research to help GPs diagnose cancer
Research to improve the early detection of cancers in GP surgeries will be transformed with a £5m funding award from Cancer Research UK. The Catalyst Award, which aims to help researchers deliver trailblazing progress in their field with long-lasting results, has gone to the Cambridge-led CanTest project. The CanTest team, led by Dr Fiona Walter […]
Detecting cancer early in primary care – balancing cancer risks with potential for over-diagnosis
Blog from Dr Fiona Walter, Cancer Group, Primary Care Unit While UK cancer screening programmes currently detect 10-15% of cancers, the remaining patients initially present to primary care or the emergency services. Overall survival for most common cancers in the UK is improving due to treatment strategies, but research suggests that the time taken to […]