TY - JOUR T1 - The Fourth Estate JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 243 LP - 243 DO - 10.3399/bjgp17X690929 VL - 67 IS - 659 AU - Roger Jones Y1 - 2017/06/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/67/659/243.abstract N2 - This month’s BJGP includes a study by Abel et al, who used data from the English Cancer Patient Experience Survey to examine prior general practice contacts of patients presenting in accident and emergency departments with a newly-diagnosed cancer. The results showed that, contrary to previous assertions, the majority of patients had not had numerous consultations with GPs, and one-third of them had not seen a GP at all. The sample included patients with cancers that often present as an emergency, such as seizures in patients with brain cancer, and bleeding in patients with renal and genital tract cancers. Older and poorer patients were also more likely to be diagnosed in casualty. Cancers which typically produce non-specific symptoms, such as myeloma, lesukaemia, and pancreatic and ovarian cancer, were more likely to come to light as … ER -