Pathways - Northern Cancer Alliance Northern Cancer Alliance

Our pathways section provides primary care teams with practical guidance and resources to support timely cancer diagnosis and improve patient outcomes.

Here you’ll find pathway-specific information, referral tools, and educational opportunities designed to help your teams deliver consistent, evidence-based care.

Breast

Breast Urgent Suspected Cancer Referrals The form has been agreed at a regional level and is in line with the NICE guidance NG12: Suspected Cancer Recognition and Referral. It has been developed to be used as an integrated form in EMIS Web and System One GP clinical systems. 👉 Urgent suspected cancer and non-urgent suspected […]

Dermatology

This page predominantly focuses on good practice and education for digital dermatology and distinguishing between benign and malignant skin lesions. Digital dermatoscope images are increasingly used for urgent suspected cancer and BCC referrals, across the North East and North Cumbria ICB. This helps streamline skin cancer pathways for faster diagnosis, treatment and improved patient experience. […]

GI/Colorectal

GI symptoms are common and can sometimes be caused by non-GI cancer as well as benign disease. Lower and upper GI symptoms can overlap, and symptoms alone are not enough to identify risk. Examination including PR, blood tests and FIT test will help primary care clinicians get the patient the right test or onto the […]

Liver surveillance

We are supporting Liver Services to invite over 80% of patients with cirrhosis/advanced fibrosis to 6-monthly ultrasound surveillance and will support more than 60% of those invited to attend. We are working with our Upper GI Pathway Group, a clinically led multi-disciplinary (including patient/lay representation), multi-agency group leading transformation across the whole breadth of UGI […]

Pancreatic cancer – EUROPAC

The European Registry of Pancreatic Cancer and Hereditary Pancreatitis (EUROPAC) EUROPAC is a research study aimed at understanding who, among the general population, requires pancreatic cancer surveillance and how it should be done. There are two parts to EUROPAC: Registry of over 2800 families with history of pancreatic cancer or pancreatitis. Family and personal medical […]

Gynaecological

Overview of managing patients with unscheduled bleeding on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) To help support primary care clinicians we have produced a quick reference summary of current British Menopause Society clinical guidelines for unscheduled bleeding on HRT 👉 NCA Guideline Summary. Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Abnormal uterine bleeding is […]

Faster diagnostic framework (including non-specific symptoms)

The Faster Diagnosis Framework (FDF), introduced by NHS England and NHS Improvement, sets out the national approach to faster diagnosis of cancer. It brings together the separate objectives to establish Rapid Diagnostic Centres (RDCs) and the Faster Diagnosis Standard Best Practice Timed Pathways (BPTPs). The Faster Diagnostic Framework will now be the overall term used […]

Urology

This page provides updates on urology pathways, clinical guidance and clinical decision making. Prostate cancer and PSA testing Routine PSA testing is not presently available in the NHS. Current available evidence (Meta-analysis – Merrier et al, 2022) suggests PSA is highly sensitive but poorly specific for prostate cancer detection. It might instead lead to unnecessary […]