Positive Likelihood Ratios PPV in Percent of Cancer in Patients Presenting with an Alarm Symptom (1995 to 2014)
| Alarm Symptoms by ICPC | Number of RFEs | N Resulting Cancer | N‡ Cancer Overall | PPV (%) | LR+ | Type of Cancer (N) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast lump, female | 400 | 59 | 158 | 14.8 | 204.86 | Female breast (59) |
| Postmenopausal bleeding | 385 | 15 | 42 | 3.9 | 180.69 | Female genital* (15) |
| Hemoptysis | 225 | 6 | 100 | 2.7 | 81.89 | Bronchus/lung (6) |
| Rectal bleeding | 913 | 24 | 127 | 2.6 | 63.53 | Colon/rectum (24) |
| Hematuria | 693 | 15 | 33 | 2.2 | 200.44 | Bladder (15) |
| Weight loss | 866 | 18 | 410 | 2.1 | Colon/rectum (4), Stomach (3), Bronchus/lung (3), Prostate (3), Kidney (2), Pancreas (2), unknown (1) | |
| Nipple symptom | 187 | 4 | 158 | 2.1 | Female breast (4) | |
| Swallowing problems | 302 | 6 | 71 | 2.0 | Stomach (3), Other malignant digestive neoplasm not stomach/colon/pancreas (3) | |
| Change in feces/bowel movements | 433 | 8 | 127 | 1.8 | 44.30 | Colon/rectum (8) |
| Lump/swelling localized | 6283 | 112 | 329 | 1.8 | 16.48 | Skin (112) |
| Nevus/mole | 814 | 15 | 329 | 1.8 | 17.04 | Skin (15) |
| Prostate symptom/complaint | 343 | 3 | 87 | 0.9 | Prostate (3) | |
| Urinary frequency/urgency (men) | 1007 | 6 | 87 | 0.6 | 7.70 | Prostate (6) |
| Urinations problems other | 653 | 3 | 120 | 0.5 | Prostate (2), Bladder (1) | |
| Voice symptom/complaint | 804 | 3 | 41 | 0.4 | Malignant neoplasm respiratory, other (not bronchus) (2), Hodgkin/lymphoma (1) | |
| Skin texture symptom/complaint | 716 | 3 | 329 | 0.4 | Skin (3) | |
| Weakness/tiredness, general | 5454 | 18 | 327 | 0.3 | 3.46† | Colon/rectum (8), Pancreas (3) Leukemia (2), Other malignant digestive neoplasm (2), Hodgkin/lymphoma (1), Malignant neoplasm respiratory, other (not bronchus) (1), Malignant neoplasm genital female not cervix, not breast (1), Unknown (1) |
| Shortness of breath/dyspnea | 4677 | 12 | 340 | 0.3 | 3.84 | Bronchus/lung (9), Leukemia (2), Hodgkin/lymphoma (1), Malignant neoplasm respiratory, other (not bronchus) (1), Female breast (1), Unknown (1) |
| Cough | 13749 | 13 | 358 | 0.1 | 1.96 | Bronchus/lung (9), Hodgkin/lymphoma (1), Other malignant digestive neoplasm not stomach/colon/pancreas (1), Female breast (1), Unknown (1) |
| Dysuria | 3269 | 2 | 120 | 0.1 | Malignant neoplasm bladder (1), Prostate (1) | |
| Intermenstrual bleeding | 134 | 0 | ||||
| Postcoital bleeding | 59 | 0 |