Pathfields Cancer Team Newsletter – April 2023
Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Cancer Care Newsletter from Pathfields Cancer Team.
Please can we ask you to spare a few minutes to skim this email. You might find something of interest that could act as a reminder or a change in practice to help identify a Cancer.
And why not take this opportunity to click the link and spend a minute reminding yourself of the relevant 2ww pathway, especially if it is one we don’t regularly use.
This Month we are bringing awareness to:
Bowel Cancer and Testicular
Bowel Cancer Awareness:
Did you know?
• Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK.
• Nearly 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK.
• Bowel cancer is cancer that’s found anywhere in the large bowel, which includes the colon and rectum.
Reminder:
• All patients with a positive QFIT should be referred on a 2WW
• All patients with Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) should be referred on 2WW Irrespective of QFIT (Anaemia can reduce accuracy of QFIT)
• QFIT has > 99% negative predictive value for bowel cancer, i.e if a QFIT is negative you are very unlikely to have bowel cancer (with the exception of IDA), so consider if a colorectal 2WW is the right pathway for your patient to be on
• Please try and ensure all patients do a QFIT prior to/alongside a 2WW referral if possible, this helps onwards triage processes
For more information on the value of QFIT and 2WW guidance please see: FIT result interpretation and 2ww
Testicular Cancer Awareness:
The most common symptom of testicular cancer is a lump in a testicle. But there may also be other signs and symptoms:
• swelling in a testicle – this is usually painless, but it may sometimes suddenly get bigger and become painful
• a dull ache, pain or a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum.
If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body, it may cause:
• pain in the back or lower abdomen (tummy)
• weight loss
• a cough
• breathlessness
• feelings of being unwell
• a lump in the neck.
Reminder:
• Testicular cancers tend to be non-painful and should be considered if there is a change in shape of the testis
• If a swelling is clearly separate from Testis on examination, it is unlikely to be a testicular tumour and you should consider an ultrasound first
Thank you once again for supporting us by taking the time to read our newsletter.
Please feel free to share your feedback and any ideas of what you might like to read about in future editions.
Karen – Cancer Support Worker
Dr Korn – Clinical Lead in Cancer Care
