Potential pitfall: Faecal calprotectin testing is an incredibly sensitive investigation for detecting the presence of inflammation. It is raised in a wide variety of conditions including malignancy, inflammatory bowel disease and alcohol misuse. It is therefore not...
Friday 4th September 2020 It’s World Leukaemia Day today. Are you confident in spotting the early signs of Leukaemia? Why not brush up on your knowledge and complete our free online Acute Leukaemia – Early Diagnosis and Chronic Leukaemia – Early Diagnosis courses...
Potential pitfall: Overlapping lung cancer and COVID-19 symptoms means that the message to patients about early diagnosis is negated by the messages necessary to control the COVID pandemic. Helpful hint: Consider the following action if a patient presents with...
Potential pitfall: Metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) is a medical emergency which can result in paralysis. Many patients living with cancer have pain; within primary care it can difficult to differentiate between significant pain which may be due to MSCC, and...
Pancreatic cancer diagnoses can be missed due to the non-site specific nature of some early symptoms. However, according to CRUK, up to 70% of patients with pancreatic cancer initially visit the doctor with upper abdominal or back pain.
Pain often presents in the right upper quadrant (RUQ pain). It can begin as general discomfort, such as pressure under the ribs or pain in the abdomen radiating to the back, similar to a pulled muscle or stomach cramps. Patients may note that sitting forward can sometimes relieve the pain but can worsen when lying down or after eating, especially with fatty foods.
In line with NICE guidelines, the presentation of back or abdominal pain in people aged 60 and over combined with weight loss should be considered for an urgent direct access CT scan to assess for pancreatic cancer (to be performed within 2 weeks), or an urgent ultrasound scan if CT is not available.
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Access GatewayC’s course on early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer here.