Quantifying intervals to diagnosis in myeloma

This is the first systematic review to quantify the whole diagnostic pathway for patients with multiple myeloma, including the different intervals in each step of the pathway. Nine studies were included. The patient interval (first symptom to first presentation) had a median of 26.3 days. The primary care interval (first presentation to first referral) was 21.6 days. The diagnostic interval (first presentation to diagnosis) was 108.6 days and the time to diagnosis interval (first symptom to diagnosis) was 163 days. There were no studies that reported on the referral to diagnosis interval. This study highlights that many patients with myeloma experience a diagnostic interval longer than 3 months, suggesting that there is potential for meaningful reductions in time to diagnosis. It also reveals the limited evidence around the diagnostic pathway for myeloma, and the need to investigate symptom lead times. Read the full article