Every year, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) runs a competition to find the cancer care team that has developed new approaches to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment. This year, six teams were shortlisted from across the UK and on the 7th October it was announced that the Oxfordshire-based SCAN pathway had won this year’s award.
The Suspected CANcer (SCAN) pathway is designed to accelerate cancer diagnosis in patients with non-specific cancer symptoms. The UK performs worse than many other developed nations in terms of cancer survival and this is in part due to the fact that 21% of cancers are diagnosed after emergency presentation, when they are often at a later stage and more difficult to treat successfully.
In an effort to improve these statistics, urgent referral pathways for suspected cancer have been developed for symptoms specific to one cancer site. However, one in five people diagnosed with cancer only ever report non-specific symptoms of cancer, such as unexplained weight loss, fatigue, nausea, or abdominal pain. These people often experience delays due to being referred sequentially to multiple different tumour site-specific clinics before receiving a diagnosis. The SCAN team identified this unmet need and designed and implemented a new diagnostic pathway that straddles primary and secondary care for patients with non-specific but concerning cancer symptoms.
Patients are referred by their GP to the pathway based in the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, where they are investigated with a whole body computed tomography (CT) scan and undergo blood and stool testing. The outcome of these tests directs the patient to the most appropriate clinical expertise to reach a diagnosis as quickly as possible.
Since its implementation across Oxfordshire in November 2017, the SCAN pathway has seen 2148 patients and diagnosed 201 incidences of cancer, most commonly lung, bowel, pancreas, lymphoma and breast. In addition to cancer diagnoses, the SCAN pathway has diagnosed a large number of serious non-cancer conditions, including tuberculosis, endocrine diseases and inflammatory bowel disease.
“One of the unique features of the SCAN Pathway is that for the remaining patients who do not receive a cancer diagnosis, we offer GPs the option for these patients to have a general medical review in a further attempt to reduce onward referrals.”
- Julie-Ann Moreland, Macmillan Project Manager and SCAN Navigator, Oxford Radiology Research Unit
Since the SCAN pathway’s inception, the number of GP surgery visits and secondary care referrals prior to receiving a cancer diagnosis decreased by approximately 4-fold, saving a large number of NHS appointments, and the time to diagnosis has reduced. Patients have also responded positively about the service in patient satisfaction questionnaires.
“Prior to the SCAN pathway, patients with non-specific symptoms were having to go to the GP on average 7.8 times and be referred to numerous secondary care clinics before receiving a diagnosis. The SCAN pathway decreases the time to diagnosis and allows patients to start receiving important treatments earlier. This will not only improve patient outcomes but will also reduce the anxiety experienced by patients while waiting for a diagnosis”
- Professor Fergus Gleeson, Consultant Radiologist in the SCAN pathway & Department of Oncology.
“I am delighted that the SCAN team have received this recognition from the BMJ. The judges made a special mention of the holistic care that the clinical team works so hard to provide. Given its success, we are introducing the pathway across the Thames Valley Cancer Alliance and other regions. We are gathering data as we go so we can learn how to improve the service for patients.”
- Dr Brian Nicholson, Academic GP Lead, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
“The development and implementation of the SCAN Pathway has been the result of hard work and collaborative teamwork with passionate people who have strived to develop a service focusing on improving the experience for patients.
“To even be short listed for this award is an incredible achievement and so to win it has been a fantastic and unexpected surprise. We are all very proud of this new pathway and this is a brilliant way to receive recognition and celebrate that.”
- Zoe Kaveney, Cancer Programme Manager at Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group
The SCAN pathway was supported by the Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate (ACE) programme funded by NHS England, Cancer Research UK and Macmillan, and the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.