TY - JOUR
T1 - National cancer control plans
AU - Nicholson, BD
AU - Shinkins, B
AU - Price, S
AU - Verbakel, JY
AU - Merriel, S
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Yannick Romero and colleagues 1 highlight a missed opportunity in cancer policy in their analysis of 158 national cancer control plans: the integration of strategies to identify cancer in primary care. 52% of national cancer control plans do not specify mechanisms to refer patients with symptoms suggestive of a possible cancer diagnosis from primary care, and a quarter (27%) do not even mention primary care. The emphasis on screening is limited in its reach, because screening detects a small percentage of cancers, 2 it is unavailable for most cancer sites, and no optimal screening strategies exist. Romero and colleagues conclude that “implementation research can improve the ability of national cancer control plans to reduce the cancer burden”. 1 Given that most people present to primary care with symptoms in the year preceding their cancer diagnosis, 3 implementation research should focus on primary care to improve the detection of cancer at an early treatable stage. 4
AB - Yannick Romero and colleagues 1 highlight a missed opportunity in cancer policy in their analysis of 158 national cancer control plans: the integration of strategies to identify cancer in primary care. 52% of national cancer control plans do not specify mechanisms to refer patients with symptoms suggestive of a possible cancer diagnosis from primary care, and a quarter (27%) do not even mention primary care. The emphasis on screening is limited in its reach, because screening detects a small percentage of cancers, 2 it is unavailable for most cancer sites, and no optimal screening strategies exist. Romero and colleagues conclude that “implementation research can improve the ability of national cancer control plans to reduce the cancer burden”. 1 Given that most people present to primary care with symptoms in the year preceding their cancer diagnosis, 3 implementation research should focus on primary care to improve the detection of cancer at an early treatable stage. 4
UR - http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/30507425
U2 - 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30830-1
DO - 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30830-1
M3 - Letter
C2 - 30507425
SN - 1470-2045
VL - 19
SP - E665
JO - The Lancet. Oncology
JF - The Lancet. Oncology
IS - 12
ER -
