Early diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancer.

The earlier a gastro-intestinal cancer is treated the better will be the prospects of cure for the patient. It is therefore important to study the early clinical stages of the pathway which leads to the diagnosis of gastro-intestinal cancer in order to make this pathway short and quick. This paper identifies the delays which happen before the symptomatic patient sees the specialist and before the diagnosis is confirmed. If these delays were reduced the early cancers would be treated earlier and with greater prospect of success. It is suggested that research centred on patients referred to hospital is unlikely to greatly improve the survival rates of patients with gastro-intestinal cancers. If the research resources deployed in primary care on the study of symptoms were to match those centred on hospitals, successful treatment would be more likely.