Facilitators and barriers to early diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma (FILMM): A qualitative study

Prognosis with malignant mesothelioma (MM) is poor, yet evidence indicates a better chance of survival at earlier diagnosis. There is a shortage of research to produce evidence based guidance related to patients’ journey to mesothelioma diagnosis, which could be vital in improving earlier diagnosis and ultimately the survival rate. This is particularly important for the UK as the survival rate in the UK is lower than Europe’s average. Although, there has been an attempt to examine MM patients’ referral pathway once they present to a healthcare professional, there has been no study that has examined their entire pathway to diagnosis (i.e. from patient’ symptom awareness to diagnosis). This is particularly relevant at this period as evidence has shown the impact COVID19 has on waiting times to diagnosis for other cancers. There has been little attention to MM patients’ experiences prior to diagnosis (i.e. early symptom awareness, help-seeking decisions and subsequent treatment pathways) as available studies have focused on their lived experiences after diagnosis. It is important to understand how MM patients appraise their symptoms, present to health services with MM symptoms and the speed of the pathway from presentation and referral to diagnosis and treatment