How this fits in

There is uncertainty in the management of cancer symptoms in primary care. This is the first review, to the authors’ knowledge, to consider the effect of older age on decision making by patients and GPs when patients present to primary care with cancer symptoms. Multiple factors were found to influence the patient and GP decision to investigate cancer symptoms including the presence of frailty, comorbidities, and cognitive impairment; family and carer involvement; and consultation time. Given the uncertainty, a shared decision-making approach is appropriate, but in routine general practice this may be difficult to achieve, mostly because of a lack of time within the consultation.