Table 2.
Proportion of cancers diagnosed by cancer site and cancer stage and hazard ratios (HRs) for a diagnosis of cancer in patients presenting to primary care with unexpected weight loss (UWL).
| Men | Women | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–3 months of follow-up | 0–6 months of follow-up | 0–3 months of follow-up | 0–6 months of follow-up | |||||
| Cancer site | n (%) | UWL HR (95% CI) | n (%) | UWL HR (95% CI) | n (%) | UWL HR (95% CI) | n (%) | UWL HR (95% CI) |
| All cancers | 893 (100) | 3.28 (2.88–3.73)a | 1565 (100) | 1.87 (1.68–2.08)a,b | 787 (100) | 1.85 (1.6–2.14)a | 1454 (100) | 1.12 (0.99–1.26)b |
| Bone connective and soft tissue | 20 (2.2) | 4.58 (1.87–11.18)a | 43 (2.7) | 1.97 (1.01–3.87)c | 16 (2.0) | 1.96 (0.66–5.82)c | 42 (2.9) | 0.92 (0.37–2.28) |
| Bowel | 123 (13.8) | 2.56 (1.78–3.67)a | 202 (12.9) | 1.49 (1.09–2.03)a | 119 (15.1) | 1.55 (1.07–2.25) | 208 (14.3) | 1.10 (0.81–1.50) |
| Breast | 144 (18.3) | 0.13 (0.05-0.31)a | 318 (21.9) | 0.07 (0.03–0.16)a | ||||
| Cancer of unknown primary | 46 (5.2) | 8.20 (4.41–15.26)a | 77 (4.9) | 4.29 (2.69–6.83)a | 37 (4.7) | 4.22 (2.24–7.96)a | 64 (4.4) | 2.10 (1.26–3.50)a |
| Central nervous system | 9 (1.0) | 0.32 (0.04–2.53) | 18 (1.2) | 0.23 (0.03–1.71) | 21 (2.7) | 1.34 (0.48–3.75) | 37 (2.5) | 1.27 (0.59–2.76) |
| Gastro-oesophageal | 93 (10.4) | 7.10 (4.66–10.81)a | 123 (7.9) | 4.26 (2.97–6.1)a | 48 (6.1) | 5.45 (3.09–9.63)a | 81 (5.6) | 2.66 (1.72–4.13)a |
| Head and Neck | 15 (1.7) | 0.58 (0.17–2.02) | 37 (2.4) | 0.51 (0.21–1.23) | 12 (1.5) | 0.29 (0.04–2.28) | 21 (1.4) | 0.35 (0.08–1.53) |
| Hepatobiliary | 28 (3.1) | 5.26 (2.63–10.52)a | 48 (3.1) | 3.85 (2.19-6.76)a | 22 (2.8) | 5.36 (2.4–11.95)a | 30 (2.1) | 4.27 (2.13–8.55)a |
| Leukaemia | 21 (2.4) | 1.25 (0.49–3.22) | 36 (2.3) | 1.03 (0.48–2.19) | 13 (1.7) | 0.20 (0.03–1.48) | 35 (2.4) | 0.29 (0.09–0.96)c |
| Lung | 185 (20.7) | 5.93 (4.43–7.94)a | 306 (19.6) | 2.74 (2.18–3.43)a,b | 107 (13.6) | 3.59 (2.47–5.21)a | 182 (12.5) | 1.82 (1.36-2.44)a |
| Lymphoma | 51 (5.7) | 6.69 (3.82–11.73)a | 79 (5) | 4.22 (2.72–6.55)a | 38 (4.8) | 3.21 (1.75–5.88)a | 65 (4.5) | 1.75 (1.06–2.91)c |
| Melanoma | 13 (1.5) | N/E | 30 (1.9) | 0.13 (0.02–0.95)a | 15 (1.9) | 0.75 (0.22–2.58) | 38 (2.6) | 0.52 (0.19–1.48) |
| Myeloma | 5 (0.6) | 6.44 (1.16–35.86)c | 18 (1.2) | 1.42 (0.53–3.77) | 6 (0.8) | 0.80 (0.09–6.78) | 22 (1.5) | 0.56 (0.16–1.90) |
| Other | 7 (0.8) | 1.79 (0.35–9.22) | 13 (0.8) | 1.95 (0.6–6.31) | 22 (2.8) | 2.59 (1.06–6.34)c | 38 (2.6) | 1.28 (0.59–2.75) |
| Ovary | 33 (4.2) | 3.47 (1.75–6.91)a | 67 (4.6) | 1.59 (0.91–2.76)a | ||||
| Pancreas | 47 (5.3) | 13.31 (6.79–26.1)a | 66 (4.2) | 6.86 (4.11–11.43)a | 46 (5.8) | 4.30 (2.47–7.5)a | 75 (5.2) | 2.92 (1.85–4.60)a |
| Prostate | 150 (16.8) | 0.79 (0.53–1.19) | 336 (21.5) | 0.51 (0.37–0.71)a | ||||
| Renal tract | 78 (8.7) | 2.16 (1.36–3.43)a | 130 (8.3) | 1.61 (1.1–2.35)a | 47 (6.0) | 1.85 (1.01–3.39) | 76 (5.2) | 1.26 (0.76–2.08) |
| Uterine | 39 (5.0) | 1.29 (0.61–2.7)c | 63 (4.3) | 0.84 (0.43–1.67) | ||||
| Cancer stage | n (%)d | UWL HR (95% CI) | n (%)d | UWL HR (95% CI) | n (%)d | UWL HR (95% CI) | n (%)d | UWL HR (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage I | 11 (11.3) | 0.73 (0.21–2.58) | 21 (12.9) | 0.53 (0.18–1.54) | 23 (24.2) | 1.31 (0.52–3.3) | 39 (25.3) | 0.61 (0.26–1.45) |
| Stage II | 12 (12.4) | 3.38 (1.3–8.82)a | 27 (16.6) | 1.39 (0.66–2.91) | 12 (12.6) | 1.31 (0.42–4.03) | 25 (16.2) | 0.86 (0.33–2.26) |
| Stage III | 16 (16.5) | 2.53 (1.12–5.69)c | 25 (15.3) | 2.11 (1.05–4.22)c | 13 (13.7) | 1.54 (0.54–4.37) | 20 (13) | 0.85 (0.32–2.27) |
| Stage IV | 58 (59.8) | 6.89 (4.22–11.24)a | 90 (55.2) | 3.79 (2.57–5.61)a | 47 (49.5) | 5.32 (3.06–9.24)a | 70 (45.5) | 2.93 (1.86–4.59)a |
| Early-stage | 23 (23.7) | 1.72 (0.83–3.55) | 48 (29.4) | 0.95 (0.52–1.73) | 35 (36.8) | 1.31 (0.64–2.68) | 64 (41.6) | 0.71 (0.37–1.34) |
| Late-stage | 74 (76.3) | 5.22 (3.46–7.88)a | 115 (70.6) | 3.26 (2.32–4.58)a | 82 (86.3) | 3.96 (2.47–6.34)a | 90 (58.4) | 2.25 (1.51–3.34)a |
Each model is adjusted for age-group, smoking status, alcohol intake, ethnicity, deprivation, BMI-group and family history of cancer and stratified by comorbidity.
N/E not estimable.
ap ≤ 0.01.
bSRT ≤ 0.05.
cp ≤ 0.05.
dPercentage for cancer stage represents percentage of staged cancers.