From Diagnosis to Daily Life: Unlocking Primary Care Insights in Cancer Management

Cancer care doesn’t happen exclusively in hospitals—for many patients, the bulk of support, symptom management, and follow-up occurs in the community, through their general practitioner (GP). Capturing this “real world” journey requires data that bridges the gap between specialist and primary care records, and between prescriptions, diagnoses, and patient outcomes over time.

Research challenge

Traditional cancer registries are excellent at recording diagnosis and treatment details from specialist care, but they often miss:

• Symptom trajectories after diagnosis (e.g., fatigue, pain, mental health consultations)
• GP-led interventions such as counseling, chronic disease management, and palliative care
• Community-prescribed medications not captured in oncology hospital records
• Timing and frequency of primary care visits relative to cancer diagnosis and treatment milestones

Without these elements, understanding the full patient experience—and opportunities for earlier intervention—is incomplete.