Upper gastrointestinal cancer referral guidelines
About these guidelines
We have developed our Rapid Referral Guidelines to support GPs with practical referral recommendations for children, young people and adults with symptoms of suspected cancer. The guidelines are endorsed by NICE and summarise the NG12 guidelines for suspected cancer. They can help you decide if a referral is:
Non urgent
Requires routine referral or tests.
Urgent
Required within two weeks.
Very urgent
Required within 48 hours.
We have recommendations on patient support, safety netting and the diagnostic process.
You can also download a copy of the guidelines (PDF).
Gall bladder cancer referral guidelines
Urgent direct access
Consider an urgent direct access ultrasound scan (within two weeks) to assess for gall bladder cancer in people with an upper abdominal mass consistent with an enlarged gall bladder.
Liver cancer referral guidelines
Urgent direct access
Consider an urgent direct access ultrasound scan (within two weeks) to assess for liver cancer in people with an upper abdominal mass consistent with an enlarged liver.
Accompanying notes
Consider that 10% of pancreatic cancers are missed by abdomen ultrasounds, while tumours smaller than 3cm will not be visible using an ultrasound. An additional benefit of a CT scan is that it can determine what stage a cancer is at.
Oesophageal and gastric cancer referral guidelines
Urgent referral for endoscopy within two weeks
Urgently refer people:
- of any age presenting with dysphagia (Gastric/Oesophageal)
- OR aged 55 or over with weight loss
- AND upper abdominal pain
- OR reflux
- OR dyspepsia (Gastric/Oesophageal).
Consider urgent referral (appointment within two weeks) for people with an upper abdominal mass consistent with stomach cancer (Gastric).
Non-urgent direct access endoscopy
Consider non-urgent direct access endoscopy for people of any age presenting with haematemesis (Gastric/Oesophageal) OR aged 55 or over with:
- treatment resistant dyspepsia (Gastric/Oesophageal)
- OR upper abdominal pain and low haemoglobin (Gastric/Oesophageal)
- OR raised platelet count with any of the following:
- nausea
- vomiting
- reflux
- weight loss
- dyspepsia
- upper abdominal pain (Gastric/Oesophageal)
- OR nausea or vomiting with any of the following:
- weight loss
- reflux
- dyspepsia
- upper abdominal pain (Gastric/Oesophageal).
Pancreatic cancer referral guidelines
Urgent direct access CT scan or an urgent ultrasound scan if CT scan is not available
Consider urgent direct access CT scan (within two weeks), or ultrasound scan if CT scan is not available, for people aged 60 or over displaying weight loss and any of the following:
- diarrhoea
- back pain
- abdominal pain
- nausea/vomiting
- constipation
- new-onset diabetes.
Urgent referral
Urgently refer (appointment within two weeks) people aged 40 or over with jaundice.
Glossary of terms
In these guidelines, we use the below terms in the way they are described.
This is consistent with NICE's NG12 guidance for suspected cancer.
- Children – from birth to 15 years.
- Young people – people aged 16–24.
- Direct access – when a test is performed and primary care retain clinical responsibility throughout, including acting on the result.
- Immediate – an acute admission or referral occurring within a few hours, or even more quickly, if necessary.
- Suspected cancer pathway referral – the patient is seen within the national target for cancer referrals (two weeks at the time of publication of the 2015 NICE guidance).
Legal disclaimer
Please note, these guidelines aim to share learning and good practice but, out of necessity, they are brief in nature. They are not a substitute for your own clinical judgement or advice provided to you by a specialist.
Macmillan and NICE will not accept any liability for any type of loss caused by someone acting on information contained in the guidelines, unless liability is enforced by law.
For your patients
We have information about about going for tests, including the different types of tests, which you can share with patients.