Objective: To evaluate the role of the urgent 2-week referral pathway in facilitating the early diagnosis of childhood cancer. Design: Retrospective case notes review of all children referred via the pathway and all children diagnosed as having cancer via other means over a period of 3 1/2 years (January 2007-July 2010). Setting: District general hospital with a shared care oncology service. Patients: 82 children aged 0-15 years. Outcome measures: Outcomes for children referred via the 2-week urgent referral pathway, including diagnosis, need for further investigations and need for further specialist input. Results: 35 children were referred via the 2-week urgent referral pathway with suspected cancer. Only one of these children had a malignancy. 49% of children required no further investigations and 43% were discharged after the first appointment with no follow-up thought necessary. Over the same time period, 47 children were diagnosed as having cancer via other means. Conclusion: The pickup rate of cancer among children referred via the 2-week urgent referral pathway is extremely low and the vast majority of cancer is diagnosed via different routes.
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