Delay in diagnosis of soft tissue sarcomas.

AIM

We reviewed 100 patients referred with soft tissue sarcoma between May 1999 to determine doctor- and patient-related delay.

METHODS

Patient delay is defined as longer than one month from first symptoms till doctor's visit, doctor delay as longer than one month from first visit till definitive diagnosis. Sixty-eight patients had a multifactional delay.

RESULTS

Forty-seven patients showed patient delay, with a median patient delay of 4 months, ranging from 2 to 240 months. The main reason for this delay is a painless mass that is mostly ignored. When pain is present, median patient delay is shorter.Twenty-seven patients experienced doctor delay, ranging from 2 to 79 months, with a median of 6 months. The most frequent reason was a misdiagnosis from the outset, on a clinical basis only, or due to a wrong diagnosis on ultrasound. Only two of these 27 patients had a biopsy, showing a benign tumour. High grade tumours are diagnosed earlier, 85% within 6 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Delay in diagnosis of soft tissue sarcomas is still a problem requiring better patient and doctor education.