Objective: The 2-week rule has reduced waiting times for a specialist opinion among patients with a suspected malignancy. We aimed at assessing the effect of this rule on colorectal cancer survival.
Method: Patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer before (group 1) and after (group 2) the introduction of the 2-week rule were identified from a prospective database. Emergency patients were excluded. Overall 2-year survival for each group was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test.
Results: Waiting times fell from 26 to 21 days (P =0.22). There was no significant difference in 2-year survival between the groups (hazard ratio 1.1; P = 0.56). There was a slight divergence between the survival curves at 2 years.
Conclusion: There has been no improvement in 2-year survival from colorectal cancer following the introduction of the 2-week rule.