LAUSR

Background: In England, 'fast-track' (also known as 'two-week wait') general practitioner referrals for suspected cancer in symptomatic patients are used to shorten diagnostic intervals and are supported by clinical guidelines. However, the use of the fast-track pathway may vary for different patient groups. Methods:  We examined data from 669,220 patients with 35 cancers diagnosed 2006-2010 following either fast-track or nonfast track primary-to-secondary care referrals using a bespoke English dataset, the 'Routes to Diagnosis' data. We estimated the proportion of fast-track referrals by sociodemographic characteristics and cancer diagnosis and used logistic regression to estimate respective crude and adjusted odds ratios. We additionally explored whether sociodemographic associations varied by cancer. Results:  There were large variations in the odds of fast-track referral by cancer (P < 0.001). Patients with testicular and breast cancer were most likely to have been diagnosed after a fast-track referra...