This report from the National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Audit (NOGCA) focuses on the care received by patients diagnosed with invasive epithelial cancer of the oesophagus, gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ) or stomach, or high-grade dysplasia (HGD) of the oesophagus between April 2019 and March 2021. For outcomes of curative surgery among people with OG cancer, data are reported for a three year period (April 2018 to March 2021).
The report contains a number of findings related to: Patterns of care at diagnosis; staging and treatment planning; waiting times along the care pathway; curative surgery; and non-curative treatments. It also includes findings relating to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
In April 2020, the number of patients diagnosed with OG cancer was 43.6% of the 2019/20 monthly average, falling from 837 to 365 cases per month
The numbers diagnosed soon returned to normal levels, and in the period from June 2020 to March 2021, the number of monthly cases was 97.8% of 2019/20 levels, and
The percentage of patients diagnosed with stage 4 disease (advanced cancer) increased from 41.6% in 2019/20 to 44.9% in 2020/21.
In addition, this report contains recommendations for healthcare professionals, among which is a call to review patients diagnosed after emergency admission and undertake root cause analysis to identify opportunities to reduce rates of emergency diagnosis.
Read the full report: You can see all key findings and read the report in full by clicking on the link below.
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