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. 2015 May 1;10(5):e0126608. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126608

Table 4. Relative survival of cancer patients by site, diagnostic interval ¹ and symptom category ² .

Cancer site / Diagnostic Interval¹ All Patients Alert Symptoms Non-alert Symptoms
5-year Relative survival 95% Confidence Interval 5-year Relative survival 95% Confidence Interval 5-year Relative survival 95% Confidence Interval
Breast 
     Overall 80.5 79.2 - 81.7 80.1 78.9 - 81.4 85.8 81.0 - 89.8
    < 1 week 78.4 75.1 - 81.5 78.2 74.8 - 81.3 88.2 64.3 - 100.0
    1–2 weeks 75.8 73.3 - 78.1 75.8 73.3 - 78.1 74.9 55.9 - 88.4
    3–4 weeks 84.0 81.5 - 86.4 84.3 81.8 - 86.7 76.2 60.2 - 87.7
    > 1 month 84.2 82.0 - 86.2 83.4 81.0 - 85.6 89.4 84.0 - 93.6
Colorectal
     Overall 47.8 46.0 - 49.5 57.0 54.1 - 59.8 42.3 40.2 - 44.4
    <1 month 44.0 40.7 - 47.2 51.6 46.7 - 56.3 36.9 32.7 - 41.2
    1–2 months 49.7 45.7 - 53.6 61.0 54.8 - 67.0 41.0 35.9 - 46.0
    3–6 months 51.7 48.7 - 54.6 63.1 57.9 - 68.0 45.6 42.0 - 49.2
    >6 months 44.6 40.7 - 48.5 48.2 39.4 - 56.9 43.8 39.4 - 48.1
Lung
     Overall 7.9 7.1 - 8.8 12.0 9.4 - 15.1 7.4 6.6 - 8.3
    <1 month 7.2 5.7 - 8.8 9.4 6.2 - 13.5 6.5 5.0 - 8.4
    1–2 months 6.9 5.2 - 8.8 13.2 8.0 - 20.1 5.7 4.1 - 7.7
    3–6 months 9.1 7.5 - 10.8 17.7 10.9 - 26.0 8.3 6.8 - 10.1
    >6 months 7.9 6.5 - 9.6 9.8 3.4 - 20.7 7.9 6.4 - 9.6
Prostate 
     Overall 71.5 67.8 - 75.0 76.2 67.8 - 83.6 70.4 66.3 - 74.4
    <1 month 54.2 45.7 - 62.6 67.0 49.6 - 81.9 49.3 39.6 - 59.0
    1–2 months 70.6 62.7 - 78.0 77.2 61.0 - 90.0 68.7 59.5 - 77.2
    3–6 months 73.4 67.4 - 79.0 80.0 64.6 - 92.1 72.2 65.7 - 78.4
    >6 months 85.9 77.9 - 92.8 82.4 58.4 - 98.6 86.4 77.8 - 94.0

¹time between first symptom presentation in primary care and diagnosis

²symptoms were categorized as alert or non-alert based on the NICE guidelines