Abstract
Objectives: Background: In 1999 all General Practitioners (GPs) in the UK were sent guidelines about the criteria for urgent referral of patients with suspected sarcoma. In addition, the receiving specialist centre was given a set of targets to meet in relation to referral, diagnosis and treatment of these cancers. These targets have now been updated for 2008 in the Cancer Reform strategy.
Aim: To compare the clinical information on two-week wait referrals with imaging clinical assessment within a specialist centre to confirm a malignant diagnosis; to review sarcoma diagnosis hit-rate and to establish whether early diagnosis has been improved.
Methods: All two-week wait referrals direct into our department were studied from June 2007 to June 2008 to determine whether a sarcoma was diagnosed, whether the GP criteria were met, and whether the targets were achieved.
Results: A total of 166 referrals received as two-week referrals to the specialist unit. One hundred and thirty six were diagnosed with benign lesions. Thirty patients had a malignant diagnosis and of those 10 patients had surgery as their first definitive treatment.
Conclusions: Detailed analysis is still being undertaken but initial conclusions drawn seem to suggest that there are still a large number of inappropriate referrals being made under the two week wait. This may be due to the GPs not following the criteria on the referral form.
Correspondence should be addressed to Professor Stefan Bielack, Olgahospital, Klinikum Stuttgart, Bismarkstrasse 8, D-70176 Stuttgart, Germany. Email: s.bielack@klinikum_stuttgart.de
