Dr Sarah Price
Senior Research Fellow
S.J.Price@exeter.ac.uk
6347
+44 (0) 1392 726347
Smeall building JS03
Smeall Building, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK
Overview
Sarah Price is a senior research fellow in the Cancer Discovery Group, working in the field of cancer diagnostics. From 2016 to 2018, she was lead researcher on a project funded by Cancer Research UK evaluating the clinical and health economic impacts of revising the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence suspected-cancer referral guidelines. From 2018 to 2023 she was funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Unit in Cancer Awareness, Screening and Early Diagnosis.
Her research interests include missed opportunities for cancer diagnosis in primary care, the health economics of cancer diagnostics and cancer investigations in people with anxiety and/or depression.
She is currently funded by NIHR School for Primary Care Research on two mixed-methods projects: The OSCA Study and The MODE Study.
The OSCA Study aims to understand how and whether anxiety and/or depression affects the chances that people will attend medical tests for undiagnosed cancer.
The MODE Study aims to characterise patterns of non-cancer diagnoses in the year before a cancer diagnosis, and to explore if they offer missed opportunities to diagnose cancer. The MODE Study is a multi-institutional collaboration with Queen Mary University of London and University of Oxford.
Sarah is also Routine Data Lead within APEx
Qualifications
- BSc (hons) Physiology (University of Manchester)
- PhD What are we missing by ignoring text records in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink? (University of Exeter)
Links
Research group links
Research
Research interests
Sarah has expertise in using large datasets of observational data, such as the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and National Cancer Registration Service data. She is Routine Data Lead for APEx. She uses a range of quantitative analysis methods, including linear and Poisson regression, survival and time series analyses.
Sarah's research focuses on early cancer diagnosis. Current projects include understanding how existing anxiety and or depression affect the diagnostic process and missed opportunities for testing for undiagnosed cancer. She works closely with other groups within University of Exeter, including Health Economics.
Research grants
- 2023 National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research
A systematic review to identify and synthesise the evidence on patient groups at risk of underdiagnosis of coeliac disease. - 2022 National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research
Non-cancer diagnoses and their potential for missed opportunities in symptomatic cancer diagnosis: a mixed methods study (The MODE Study). - 2022 National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research
A mixed-methods study of attendance for suspected cancer investigations in people with anxiety and/or depression: an observational case-control study and pilot work for a subsequent discrete choice preference study (The OSCA Study). - 2016 National Institute for Health Research HTA Programme
Aids to Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care
Publications
Journal articles
Price S, Wiering B, Mounce LTA, Hamilton W, Abel G (2023). Examining methodology to identify patterns of consulting in primary care for different groups of patients before a diagnosis of cancer: an exemplar applied to oesophagogastric cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, 82, 102310-102310.
Moore SF, Price SJ, Bostock J, Neal RD, Hamilton W (2023). Incidence of ‘Low-Risk but Not No-Risk’ Features of Cancer Prior to High-Risk Feature Occurrence: an Observational Cohort Study in Primary Care. Cancers, 15(15), 3936-3936. Abstract.
Hamilton W, Price S (2023). Targeting diagnostic interventions for oesophageal cancer. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 32, 100716-100716.
Martins T, Abel G, Ukoumunne OC, Price S, Lyratzopoulos G, Chinegwundoh F, Hamilton W (2022). Assessing Ethnic Inequalities in Diagnostic Interval of Common Cancers: a Population-Based UK Cohort Study. Cancers, 14(13), 3085-3085. Abstract.
Price SJ, Gibson N, Hamilton WT, Bostock J, Shephard EA (2022). Diagnoses after newly-recorded abdominal pain in primary care: observational cohort study. British Journal of General Practice, 72(721).
Martins T, Abel G, Ukoumunne OC, Mounce LTA, Price S, Lyratzopoulos G, Chinegwundoh F, Hamilton W (2022). Ethnic inequalities in routes to diagnosis of cancer: a population-based UK cohort study. Br J Cancer, 127(5), 863-871. Abstract. Author URL.
Price SJ, Gibson N, Hamilton WT, King A, Shephard EA (2022). Intra-abdominal cancer risk with abdominal pain: a prospective cohort primary care study. British Journal of General Practice, 72(718), e361-e368. Abstract.
Price S, Spencer A, Hamilton W (2022). Revising the Suspected-Cancer Guidelines: Impacts on Patients’ Primary Care Contacts and Costs. Value in Health
White B, Rafiq M, Gonzalez-Izquierdo A, Hamilton W, Price S, Lyratzopoulos G (2022). Risk of cancer following primary care presentation with fatigue: a population-based cohort study of a quarter of a million patients. British Journal of Cancer, 126(11), 1627-1636. Abstract.
Funston G, Mounce LTA, Price S, Rous B, Crosbie EJ, Hamilton W, Walter FM (2021). CA125 test result, test-to-diagnosis interval, and stage in ovarian cancer at diagnosis: a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records. British Journal of General Practice, 71(707), e465-e472. Abstract.
Scott LJ, Murphy M, Price S, Lewis R, Denholm R, Horwood J, Palmer T, Salisbury C (2021). Changes in presentations with features potentially indicating cancer in primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open, 11(5). Abstract. Author URL.
Price S, Abel GA, Hamilton W (2021). Guideline interval: a new time interval in the diagnostic pathway for symptomatic cancer. Cancer Epidemiol, 73 Abstract. Author URL.
Herbert A, Rafiq M, Pham TM, Renzi C, Abel GA, Price S, Hamilton W, Petersen I, Lyratzopoulos G (2021). Predictive values for different cancers and inflammatory bowel disease of 6 common abdominal symptoms among more than 1.9 million primary care patients in the UK: a cohort study. PLOS Medicine, 18(8), e1003708-e1003708. Abstract.
Moore SF, Price SJ, Chowienczyk S, Bostock J, Hamilton W (2021). The impact of changing risk thresholds on the number of people in England eligible for urgent investigation for possible cancer: an observational cross-sectional study. British Journal of Cancer, 125(11), 1593-1597. Abstract.
Clarke C, Hamilton W, Price S, Bailey SE (2020). Association of non-malignant diseases with thrombocytosis: a prospective cohort study in general practice. Br J Gen Pract, 70(701), e852-e857. Abstract. Author URL.
Medina-Lara A, Grigore B, Lewis R, Peters J, Price S, Landa P, Robinson S, Neal R, Hamilton W, Spencer AE, et al (2020). Cancer diagnostic tools to aid decision-making in primary care: mixed-methods systematic reviews and cost-effectiveness analysis. Health Technology Assessment, 24(66), 1-332. Abstract.
Chowienczyk S, Price S, Hamilton W (2020). Changes in the presenting symptoms of lung cancer from 2000-2017: a serial cross-sectional study of observational records in UK primary care. Br J Gen Pract, 70(692), e193-e199. Abstract. Author URL.
Carney M, Quiroga M, Mounce L, Shephard E, Hamilton W, Price S (2020). Effect of pre-existing conditions on bladder cancer stage at diagnosis: a cohort study using electronic primary care records in the UK. Br J Gen Pract, 70(698), e629-e635. Abstract. Author URL.
Price S, Zhang X, Spencer A (2020). Measuring the impact of national guidelines: What methods can be used to uncover time-varying effects for healthcare evaluations?. Soc Sci Med, 258 Abstract. Author URL.
Nicholson BD, Aveyard P, Price SJ, Hobbs FDR, Koshiaris C, Hamilton W (2020). Prioritising primary care patients with unexpected weight loss for cancer investigation: diagnostic accuracy study. BMJ-BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL, 370 Author URL.
Quiroga M, Shephard EA, Mounce LTA, Carney M, Hamilton WT, Price SJ (2020). Quantifying the impact of pre-existing conditions on the stage of oesophagogastric cancer at diagnosis: a primary care cohort study using electronic medical records. Family Practice, 38(4), 425-431. Abstract.
Price S, Spencer A, Zhang X, Ball S, Lyratzopoulos G, Mujica-Mota R, Stapley S, Ukoumunne OC, Hamilton W (2020). Trends in time to cancer diagnosis around the period of changing national guidance on referral of symptomatic patients: a serial cross-sectional study using UK electronic healthcare records from 2006–17. Cancer Epidemiology, 69, 101805-101805.
Price S, Spencer A, Medina-Lara A, Hamilton W (2019). Availability and use of cancer decision-support tools: a cross-sectional survey of UK primary care. British Journal of General Practice, 69(684), E437-E443. Abstract.
Ankus E, Price S, Ukoumunne O, Hamilton W, Bailey S (2018). Cancer incidence in patients with a high normal platelet count: a cohort study using primary care data. Family Practice
Nicholson BD, Shinkins B, Price S, Verbakel JY, Merriel S (2018). National cancer control plans. The Lancet Oncology, 19(12).
Mounce LTA, Price S, Valderas JM, Hamilton W (2017). Comorbid conditions delay diagnosis of colorectal cancer: a cohort study using electronic primary care records. Br J Cancer, 116(12), 1536-1543. Abstract. Author URL.
Watson J, Nicholson BD, Hamilton W, Price S (2017). Identifying clinical features in primary care electronic health record studies: methods for codelist development. BMJ Open, 7(11). Abstract. Author URL.
Price SJ, Stapley SA, Shephard E, Barraclough K, Hamilton WT (2016). Is omission of free text records a possible source of data loss and bias in Clinical Practice Research Datalink studies? a case-control study. BMJ Open, 6(5). Abstract. Author URL.
Price SJ, Shephard EA, Stapley SA, Barraclough K, Hamilton WT (2015). Does the GP method of recording possible cancer symptoms reflect the probability that cancer is present?. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, 24, 30-30. Author URL.
Martins T, Price S, Hjertholm P, Hamilton W (2015). Doing PhD in primary care diagnosis and treatment of cancer. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, 24, 58-58. Author URL.
Brown JM, Price SJ, Price RA (2015). Predicting risk after aneurysm surgery. Anaesthesia, 70(11). Author URL.
Price SJ, Shephard EA, Stapley SA, Barraclough K, Hamilton WT (2014). Non-visible versus visible haematuria and bladder cancer risk: a study of electronic records in primary care. British Journal of General Practice, 626(64), 584-589.
Price SJ, Shephard EA, Stapley SA, Barraclough K, Hamilton WT (2014). Non-visible versus visible haematuria and bladder cancer risk: a study of electronic records in primary care. Br J Gen Pract, 64(626), e584-e589. Abstract. Author URL.
Price SJ, Shephard EA, Stapley SA, Barraclough K, Hamilton WT (2014). The risk of bladder cancer with non-visible haematuria: a primary care study using electronic records. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, 23, 32-32. Author URL.
Poole RC, Halestrap AP, Price SJ, Levi AJ (1989). The kinetics of transport of lactate and pyruvate into isolated cardiac myocytes from guinea pig. Kinetic evidence for the presence of a carrier distinct from that in erythrocytes and hepatocytes. Biochemical Journal, 264(2), 409-418. Abstract.
Chapters
Price S, Price R, Hamilton W (2018). Clinical and other diagnostic tests. In (Ed) How to Do Primary Care Research, Taylor & Francis, 183-194.
Price SJ, Price R, Hamilton W (2018). Clinical and other diagnostic tests: understanding their predictive value. In (Ed) How to Do Primary Care Research, Boca Raton: CRC Press. Abstract.
Conferences
Carney MH, Price S, Shephard E, Mounce L, Quiroga M, Hamilton W (2020). Abstract A25: Effect of pre-existing conditions on bladder cancer diagnosis: a cohort study using electronic primary care records.
Carney MH, Price S, Shephard E, Mounce L, Quiroga M, Hamilton W (2020). Effect of pre-existing conditions on bladder cancer diagnosis: a cohort study using electronic primary care records. Author URL.
Bailey SER, Ankus E, Price S, Pula G, Hamilton W (2018). The diagnostic potential of 'high normal' platelet counts for identifying cancer in primary care. Author URL.
External Engagement and Impact
Committee/panel activities
- 2015–2016: Postgraduate representative on the University of Exeter Athena SWAN Working Group
- 2014–2015: Postgraduate representative on the Research Degrees Liaison Forum
External positions
- 2024-date: Member of the Research Advisory Panel for Yorkshire Cancer Research
