ED cancer diagnoses linked to almost 4x higher mortality: 5 notes 

Patients diagnosed with cancer within 30 days of an emergency department visit had a higher mortality risk than patients diagnosed with cancer through routine care, according to a study published July 14 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers from Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center analyzed Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program data from 929,378 patients diagnosed with one of 16 cancers between 2008 and 2017 to evaluate mortality risk associated with emergency department visits preceding their diagnosis.

Here are five things to know from the study:

1. Of the 28% of patients diagnosed with cancer following an emergency department visit, 22% were diagnosed after being admitted directly to the hospital from the emergency department and 6% were diagnosed after discharge through routine outpatient care.
   
   
2. Fewer than 10% of breast and prostate cancer patients received their diagnosis within 30 days of an emergency department visit, compared with more than 40% of liver, lung, stomach, colon, ovarian and pancreatic cancer patients.
   
   
3. One year after diagnosis, 81% of patients diagnosed through routine care and 60% of patients diagnosed through outpatient care after an emergency visit were still alive, while only 36% of patients diagnosed after being admitted directly to the hospital from the emergency department were still alive.
   
   
4. Patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency department had nearly four times the 30-day mortality risk of patients diagnosed through routine care.
   
   
5. Tracking how often patients are diagnosed with cancer in the emergency department could help health systems identify gaps in earlier detection, researchers said in a July 15 news release from UNC Health. Expanding primary care access and improving diagnostic coordination could also reduce emergency cancer diagnoses, they said.

Read the full study here. 

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