Table 2. Population characteristics and distribution of symptoms, blood tests and primary care consultation patterns in CPRD and UK Biobank.
| UK Biobank cohort | CPRD cohort | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEMOGRAPHICS | Count | (%) | Count | (%) |
| Patients | 11,594 | 22,601 | ||
| Male | 5,683 | (49.0%) | 10,453 | (46.3%) |
| Deprivation | ||||
| Least deprived | 3,594 | (31.0%) | 5,550 | (24.6%) |
| 2nd fifth | 2,557 | (22.1%) | 5,049 | (22.3%) |
| 3rd fifth | 2,088 | (18.0%) | 4,795 | (21.2%) |
| 4th fifth | 1,822 | (15.7%) | 3,898 | (17.2%) |
| Most deprived | 1,533 | (13.2%) | 3,309 | (14.6%) |
| Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | |
| Age (years) | 64.1 | (6.9) | 59.4 | (11.2) |
| NUMBER OF CANCERS BY SITE | Count | (%) | Count | (%) |
| Any cancer | 11,594 | 22,601 | ||
| Breast cancer | 2,581 | (22.3%) | 4,379 | (19.4%) |
| Prostate cancer | 2,190 | (18.9%) | 3,071 | (13.6%) |
| Colorectal cancer | 1,238 | (10.7%) | 2,233 | (9.9%) |
| Lung cancer | 806 | (7.0%) | 2,184 | (9.7%) |
| Melanoma | 622 | (5.4%) | 1,011 | (4.5%) |
| NHL | 474 | (4.1%) | 787 | (3.5%) |
| Bladder cancer | 380 | (3.3%) | 709 | (3.1%) |
| Uterine cancer | 335 | (2.9%) | 630 | (2.8%) |
| Upper GI cancer | 306 | (2.6%) | 779 | (3.4%) |
| Kidney cancer | 272 | (2.3%) | 481 | (2.1%) |
| Other cancers | 2,390 | (20.6%) | 6,337 | (28.0%) |
| CONSULTATIONS | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) |
| Consultations in the year before diagnosis | 14.3 | (9.7) | 16.2 | (11.5) |
| POSSIBLE CANCER SYMPTOMS | Patients with 1 or more record | (%) | Patients with 1 or more record | (%) |
| Any symptom | 4,164 | (35.9%) | 12,187 | (53.9%) |
| Multiple symptoms | 1,059 | (9.1%) | 4,290 | (19.0%) |
| ’Alarm’ symptoms | 1,891 | (16.3%) | 5,115 | (22.6%) |
| Abdominal lump | 54 | (0.5%) | 185 | (0.8%) |
| Breast lump | 489 | (4.2%) | 1,888 | (8.4%) |
| Change in bowel habit | 111 | (1.0%) | 362 | (1.6%) |
| Dysphagia | 91 | (0.8%) | 372 | (1.6%) |
| Haematuria | 709 | (6.1%) | 1,054 | (4.7%) |
| Haemoptysis | 45 | (0.4%) | 178 | (0.8%) |
| Jaundice | 55 | (0.5%) | 174 | (0.8%) |
| Post-menopausal bleed | 160 | (1.4%) | 355 | (1.6%) |
| Rectal bleed | 242 | (2.1%) | 770 | (3.4%) |
| ’Non-alarm’ symptoms | 2,789 | (24.1%) | 8,991 | (39.8%) |
| Abdominal bloating | 101 | (0.9%) | 346 | (1.5%) |
| Abdominal pain | 701 | (6.0%) | 2,642 | (11.7%) |
| Constipation | 208 | (1.8%) | 731 | (3.2%) |
| Cough | 900 | (7.8%) | 3,497 | (15.5%) |
| Diarrhoea | 216 | (1.9%) | 764 | (3.4%) |
| Dyspepsia | 445 | (3.8%) | 1,082 | (4.8%) |
| Dyspnoea | 636 | (5.5%) | 1,870 | (8.3%) |
| Fatigue | 247 | (2.1%) | 995 | (4.4%) |
| Night sweats | 14 | (0.1%) | 61 | (0.3%) |
| Pelvic pain | 9 | (0.1%) | 24 | (0.1%) |
| Nausea / vomiting | 100 | (0.9%) | 519 | (2.3%) |
| Weight loss | 48 | (0.4%) | 414 | (1.8%) |
| BLOOD TESTS | 7,469 | (64.4%) | 14,522 | (64.3%) |
| Full blood count | 6,316 | (54.5%) | 12,914 | (57.1%) |
| Haemoglobin concentration | 6,304 | (54.4%) | 12,903 | (57.1%) |
| Platelet counts | 6,294 | (54.3%) | 12,792 | (56.6%) |
| Haematocrit percentage | 6,232 | (53.8%) | 12,599 | (55.7%) |
| Acute phase response | 6,779 | (58.5%) | 12,940 | (57.3%) |
| Albumin | 6,578 | (56.7%) | 12,663 | (56.0%) |
| Ferritin | 1,658 | (14.3%) | 2,606 | (11.5%) |
| Inflammatory markers | 3,154 | (27.2%) | 7,037 | (31.1%) |
| ESR | 2,293 | (19.8%) | 4,895 | (21.7%) |
| CRP | 2,130 | (18.4%) | 4,707 | (20.8%) |
| PV | 247 | (2.1%) | 781 | (3.5%) |