Cancer often being diagnosed in A&E despite patients seeing GPs

Thousands of cancer patients are being diagnosed in A&E, despite having seen their GP three times or more.

Research funded by Cancer Research UK shows 71% of patients diagnosed in an emergency department had visited their GP at least once to discuss symptoms that turned out to be cancer.

Among those who had seen their local doctor, 41% had been to the surgery three times or more, while the remaining 59% had been once or twice.

While some of them had conditions that are difficult to spot, such as multiple myeloma, the group also included common cancers.

The data shows 31% of patients with breast cancer had been to their GP three or more times, while with bowel cancer it was 41% and prostate cancer 37%.

Overall, data from Cancer Research UK data shows 22% of the 356,000 people found to have cancer each year are diagnosed as an emergency case.

Patients diagnosed at an early stage have a better prognosis.

The study has been published in the British Journal of General Practice. Its authors, from Cambridge University and University College London (UCL), amongst others, looked at data from 4,637 people diagnosed in A&E in 2010.

They said patients diagnosed in A&E with common cancers, after seeing their GP, may have had atypical symptoms.

Those who had not seen their GP at all tended to be male, older, and living in England's most deprived regions.

One of the lead researchers, Dr Georgios Lyratzopoulos, based at UCL, said: "These findings tell us that some patients diagnosed as an emergency might not be acting on 'red flag' symptoms which could have prompted them to visit their GP."

Other factors included elderly patients finding it difficult to get to their local surgery, or conditions such as dementia stopping them from seeking an appointment.

Judith Brodie, acting chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, said the study's findings were "concerning", adding that a patient's chance of being treated successfully drops "dramatically" if they are not diagnosed until a late stage.

Dr Julie Sharp from Cancer Research UK said: "We need to continue to increase awareness of cancer signs and symptoms and help break down the barriers preventing people from seeing their GP earlier."

The proportion of cancers diagnosed as an emergency is dropping, the chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said, adding that more patients are being diagnosed at an earlier stage.

"However, as this study shows, there are still some patients who seem to be missing or ignoring worrying symptoms until they are severe enough to send them to A&E," she said.

"GPs take their role in diagnosing cancer as early as possible very seriously and we would urge patients who experience any concerning or persistent symptoms to book an appointment with their GP."