More than 300 GP practices are trialling a ‘case finding’ scheme that aims to identify and test people over 60 who have key early warning signs of pancreatic cancer.
The NHS pilot will require GP teams in England to comb online patient records to identify those most at risk: those aged over 60 with new onset diabetes and experiencing sudden weight loss.
The practices involved will then contact patients and send them for urgent blood tests and CT scans to rule out cancer.
The three year pilot, which will be given funding of almost £2m, will start immediately in ‘dozens’ of practices, NHS England said this week. It will be up and running among the rest in the Autumn.
The initiative will test whether dedicated routine searches of patient records in GP IT systems can lead to earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and better outcomes.
It will use newly created digital health technology so GP records can be used more effectively to detect the disease earlier, said Dr Agnieszka Lemanska, lead evaluator for the pilot scheme and senior lecturer in Health Data Science at the University of Surrey. ‘We are creating tools to identify people through simple body weight and blood glucose control measurements.’
‘The success of this pilot relies on high quality and complete GP data,’ she further warned.
However, where a patient’s weight is not recorded, GP teams will reach out to patients to check they have not unexpectedly slimmed down and offer them tests if they have new onset diabetes, NHS England said.
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK with only 7% of people living 5 years or more after diagnosis. NHS England said around half of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have been diagnosed with diabetes recently.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer said that pancreatic cancer is responsible for so many deaths because patients don’t usually notice symptoms until the disease is at an advanced stage.
‘Through initiatives like this and the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan, the NHS is determined to go a step further – not just treat people at an advanced stage but to go out into communities and seek people out who might be unwell without any symptoms so we can provide people with the most effective treatment.’
Alfie Bailey-Bearfield, head of influencing & health improvement, at Pancreatic Cancer UK, said if the pilot scheme is a success, the charity will call for it to be expanded across the country.
He added: ‘Diagnosing more people with pancreatic cancer earlier, when the disease is most treatable, would make the single biggest difference to improving survival, so we are delighted to see significant further investment from NHS England towards that incredibly important goal.
‘We’re proud to have been involved in shaping this new case finding pilot, which will support GPs to proactively find people with pancreatic cancer among one of largest groups known to be at increased risk: those aged over 60, with new onset diabetes who have recently lost weight without trying to do so’.
