Cancer risk in patients with abdominal pain

Abdominal pain may indicate cancer, with a higher chance in men, and increasing age, according to new research on cancer risk in patients with abdominal pain. This study examined over 125,000 patients who reported a new case of abdominal pain to their GP. It found that 3 in 100 men 70 years or older with abdominal pain were likely to have undiagnosed cancer, compared with fewer than 1 in 100 in the general population. It also found that extra symptoms increased cancer risk, and sometimes pointed to where it might be. For example, nearly 5 in 100 men aged 70 or more with abdominal pain and diarrhoea had cancer in either their bowel or pancreas.

Early signals of colorectal cancer

New research shows that long diagnostic intervals of 8-9 months followed many colorectal cancer-relevant clinical features and abnormal blood tests. There is scope to optimise timely referral in symptomatic patients, through earlier use of tests such as faecal immunochemical testing. Most colorectal cases are diagnosed following symptomatic presentation in primary care; therefore, understanding patterns of pre-diagnostic clinical features might help identify when first signals occur, for timely referrals.

COVID-19 and young people's contacts with GPs

Despite challenges of the pandemic, new research indicates that GPs largely continued to provide accessible acute care for patients aged 0 to 24. Children and young people’s contacts with GPs in England dropped by 41% during the first COVID-19 lockdown; however, a two-fold increase in phone and video contacts with GPs mitigated an 88% fall in face-to-face contacts for these patients. Smaller drops were seen for groups such as infants and those with potentially more serious conditions.