Lung cancer in symptomatic patients presenting in primary care – a systematic review of risk prediction tools

There are around 1.8 million new diagnoses of lung cancer world-wide each year. Up to 70% of patients presenting to specialist care have advanced disease. This systematic review investigates the existing risk prediction tools for patients presenting in primary care with symptoms that may indicate lung cancer. Seven studies that all used UK primary care data were included. Based on the limitations of the identified tools and their lack of external validation the authors believe there is insufficient evidence to recommend any of the currently available risk tools. In order to provide benefit in clinical practice these tools need both a comparative study and external validation to allow the best tool to be incorporated into primary care. Read the full article here.