RESUMO
Background: Breast pain accounts for 20-40% of new referrals to breast units in the UK and these patients have a very low risk of breast cancer. Patients have previously been assessed in resource-intensive, cancer-exclusion, one stop clinics, which are now failing to meet government targets due to excessive demand. UK Breast units are increasingly piloting Breast Pain-only Pathways (BPP) to assess these patients, and there is no consensus for the optimal pathway. The aim of this prospective multicentre study is to assess the safety and patient satisfaction of different BPPs to inform future BPP design and implementation. Methods: All UK breast units will be invited to join the ASPIRE study between January 2023 and December 2023. Units with a BPP are invited to submit their pathway for evaluation; and those without a BPP who see patients with breast pain-only in a one stop clinics setting are also invited to join the study to evaluate the traditional pathway model concurrently. Patient satisfaction assessments will be collected after their initial consultation and patient outcomes, including subsequent cancer diagnosis, will be followed up at 12 months to determine if they have cancer diagnosis after discharge to assess pathway safety.
RESUMO
AIM: The benefit to elderly patients (≥80 years old) of referral to the resource-intensive lower gastrointestinal 2-week wait (LGI-2WW) pathway is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the survival outcome of elderly patients referred to a LGI-2WW service. METHOD: This study comprised a retrospective analysis of a prospectively gathered database of patients referred to a single-centre LGI-2WW service and conformed to STROBE guidelines. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Statistical analysis was performed with the chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier survival curves compared with the generalized log-rank test. RESULTS: A total of 10 155 patients referred to the LGI-2WW service between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2018 were analysed; median follow-up was 37.0 months (range 0-66 months). Six hundred and ninety one cancers were diagnosed (6.8% detection rate); 551 (80%) of these were lower GI cancers (LGICas) [517 (75%) colorectal; 34 (5%) anal]. Forty per cent of LGICas were diagnosed via the LGI-2WW service. Patients aged ≥80 years with LGICa were more likely to be treated with palliative intent [age <80 years, 92/360 (26%) vs. age ≥80 years, 105/191 (55%); p < 0.001]. LGICa patients aged <85 years had a survival difference between those treated with curative intent (LGICa-Cur) or palliative intent (LGICa-Pal) (median survival for patients aged 80-84 years: LGICa-Cur 57 months vs. LGICa-Pal 15 months; p < 0.001). Patients aged ≥85 years did not have any survival difference by treatment intent (median survival for patients aged 85-89 years: LGICa-Cur 31 months vs. LGICa-Pal 16 months; p = 0.062; median survival for patients aged ≥90 years: LGICa-Cur 14 months vs. LGICa-Pal 16 months; p = 0.703). CONCLUSION: Patients with LGICa aged ≥85 years have similar survival whether treated with curative or palliative intent. This can inform management discussions with patients and LGI-2WW referral pathway prioritization approaches.
