{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]],"date-time":"2026-02-11T02:47:06Z","timestamp":1770778026128,"version":"3.50.0"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"7079","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[1997,2,15]],"date-time":"1997-02-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":855964800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/company\/legal-information\/terms-conditions\/legal-information\/tdm-licencepolicy"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMJ"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[1996,9,10]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,2,15]]},"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Objectives:<\/jats:bold>\n To examine the time taken to diagnose oesophageal or gastric cancer, identify the source of delay, and assess its clinical importance\n <\/jats:p>\n \n Design:<\/jats:bold>\n Study of all new patients presenting to one surgical unit with carcinoma of the oesophagus or stomach.\n <\/jats:p>\n \n Setting:<\/jats:bold>\n University department of surgery in a large teaching hospital.\n <\/jats:p>\n \n Subjects:<\/jats:bold>\n 115 consecutive patients (70 men, mean age 66 years) with carcinoma of the oesophagus (27) or stomach (88).\n <\/jats:p>\n \n Main outcome measures:<\/jats:bold>\n Interval from the onset of symptoms to histological diagnosis, final pathological stage of the tumour, and whether potentially curative resection was possible.\n <\/jats:p>\n \n Results:<\/jats:bold>\n The median delay from first symptoms to histological diagnosis was 17 weeks (range 1 to 168 weeks). 25% (29\/115) of patients had a delay of over 28 weeks (median 39 weeks). Total delay was made up of the following components: delay in consulting a doctor (29%), delay in referral (23%), delay in being seen at hospital (16%), and delay in establishing the diagnosis at the hospital (32%). No relation was found between delay in diagnosis and tumour stage in patients with gastric cancer, but for oesophageal cancer those with stage I and II disease were diagnosed within 7 weeks compared with 21 weeks (P<0.02) for those with stage III and IV disease.\n <\/jats:p>\n \n Conclusions:<\/jats:bold>\n Long delays still occur in the diagnosis of patients with cancer of the stomach or oesophagus. Streamlined referral and investigation pathways are needed if patients with gastric and oesophageal carcinomas are to be diagnosed early in the course of the disease.\n <\/jats:p>\n \n \n \n Key messages<\/jats:title>\n \n \n Survival of oesophagogastric cancer is most likely if the tumour is caught early<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n The median delay in diagnosis for patients with oesophagogastric cancer was 17 weeks but 25% of patients had delays of more than 28 weeks<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n For patients with oesophageal cancer this delay was associated with tumours of more advanced stage<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n Patient delay in seeking medical help was relatively short; the biggest reductions in delays could be produced by streamlined referral and investigation.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n Open access endoscopy service reduced delays in diagnosis compared with standard referral<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n <\/jats:list>\n <\/jats:sec>\n <\/jats:boxed-text>\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.314.7079.467","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,10,27]],"date-time":"2011-10-27T19:45:18Z","timestamp":1319744718000},"page":"467","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":75,"title":["Delays in the diagnosis of oesophagogastric cancer: a consecutive case series"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"314","author":[{"given":"Iain G","family":"Martin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sheila","family":"Young","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Henry","family":"Sue-Ling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Johnston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1997,2,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.1","unstructured":"Japanese Research Society for Gastric Cancer. Treatment results of gastric carcinoma in Japan (1979-1982). Tokyo: Mitamura Press, 1995."},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1159\/000226971","article-title":"Results of a nationwide study on the three field lymph node dissection of esophageal cancer.","volume":"48","author":"Isono","year":"1991","journal-title":"Oncology"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"591","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.307.6904.591","article-title":"Gastric cancer: a curable disease in Britain.","volume":"307","author":"Sue-Ling","year":"1993","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.1002\/bjs.1800760604","article-title":"Gastric cancer: a 25 year review.","volume":"76","author":"Allum","year":"1989","journal-title":"Br J Surg"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1318","DOI":"10.1136\/gut.33.10.1318","article-title":"Early gastric cancer: 46 patients treated in one surgical department.","volume":"33","author":"Sue-Ling","year":"1992","journal-title":"Gut"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.6","first-page":"S14","article-title":"Oesophageal cancer in Yorkshire: A regional audit.","volume":"35","author":"May","year":"1994","journal-title":"Gut"},{"issue":"suppl 133","key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.3109\/00365528709091007","article-title":"The unified gastric cancer staging classification.","volume":"22","author":"Kennedy","year":"1987","journal-title":"Scand J Gastroenterol"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.8","unstructured":"Committee on TNM classification. TNM classification of malignant tumors. 4th ed. Berlin: Springer, 1987:40\u20132."},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"611","DOI":"10.3109\/00365529109043635","article-title":"Patients and physician treatment delay in patients with stomach cancer: is it important? The Norwegian stomach cancer trial.","volume":"26","author":"Haugstvedt","year":"1991","journal-title":"Scand J Gastroenterol"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.10","first-page":"545","article-title":"Die Beziehungen zwischen Verschleppungszeit und Prognose beim Magenkarzinom unter selektionsfreien Bedingungen","volume":"45","author":"Pothe","year":"1975","journal-title":"Arch Geschwulstforsch"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1097\/00004836-198106000-00005","article-title":"Analytical studies on growth of human gastric cancer.","volume":"3","author":"Kohli","year":"1981","journal-title":"J Clin Gastroenterol"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.12","first-page":"183","article-title":"Observations on the growth rate of polypoidal type gastric cancers with doubling times based on a retrospective roentgenological study.","volume":"34","author":"Haruma","year":"1988","journal-title":"Gan No Rinsho"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1135","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.280.6223.1135","article-title":"Endoscopic studies of dyspepsia in the community: an \u201copen access\u201d service.","volume":"280","author":"Gear","year":"1980","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"513","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.301.6751.513","article-title":"Early detection of gastric cancer.","volume":"301","author":"Hallissey","year":"1990","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2025122313074174000_314.7079.467.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"364","DOI":"10.1097\/00000658-199409000-00012","article-title":"Radical lymph node dissection for cancer of the thoracic esophagus.","volume":"220","author":"Akiyama","year":"1994","journal-title":"Ann Surg"}],"container-title":["BMJ"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/data.bmj.org\/tdm\/10.1136\/bmj.314.7079.467","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj.314.7079.467","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,23]],"date-time":"2025-12-23T21:07:48Z","timestamp":1766524068000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj.314.7079.467"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1997,2,15]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7079","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1997,2,15]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,2,15]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmj.314.7079.467"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj.314.7079.467","relation":{},"ISSN":["0959-8138","1468-5833"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0959-8138","type":"print"},{"value":"1468-5833","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1997,2,15]]}}}