Title: Colorectal cancer pre-diagnostic symptoms are associated with anatomic cancer site
Version: 1 Date: 13 Dec 2023
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS:
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a testable research
question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear objective)?
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for
the objective?
Yes - the approach is appropriate
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor to allow
confidence in the results?
Yes - experiments and analyses were performed appropriately
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
Yes - appropriate statistical analyses have been used in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not
overstated?
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work technically
sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically sound?
Probably - with minor revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS:
GENERAL COMMENTS: Its a well performed study overall but not sure about its novelty
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS:
Overall, this is a well performed study with hardly any flaws, except that I am not sure about
the novelty of the findings.
Generally, patients with symptoms present later than patients detected on screening. In this study
however, patients detected on screening are older in age. Any explanation for this?
'When triaging care, clinical providers and gastroenterologists should pay acute attention to
common pre-diagnostic red flag symptoms by anatomic site. Red flag symptoms have shown to
be a key area of focus that can inform best practices for early evaluation of CRC.' I am not sure
if this can be a conclusion, as the authors have not evaluated the prevalence of these symptoms
in the general population and compared the two to demonstrate that they are significantly more
common. For example, abdominal pain can be a pretty common symptom for many other benign
and malignant pathologies.
Title: Colorectal cancer pre-diagnostic symptoms are associated with anatomic cancer site
Version: 1 Date: 13 Dec 2023
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS:
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a testable research
question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear objective)?
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for
the objective?
Yes - the approach is appropriate
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor to allow
confidence in the results?
Yes - experiments and analyses were performed appropriately
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
Yes - appropriate statistical analyses have been used in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not
overstated?
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work technically
sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically sound?
Probably - with minor revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS:
GENERAL COMMENTS: Its a well performed study overall but not sure about its novelty
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS:
Overall, this is a well performed study with hardly any flaws, except that I am not sure about
the novelty of the findings.
Generally, patients with symptoms present later than patients detected on screening. In this study
however, patients detected on screening are older in age. Any explanation for this?
'When triaging care, clinical providers and gastroenterologists should pay acute attention to
common pre-diagnostic red flag symptoms by anatomic site. Red flag symptoms have shown to
be a key area of focus that can inform best practices for early evaluation of CRC.' I am not sure
if this can be a conclusion, as the authors have not evaluated the prevalence of these symptoms
in the general population and compared the two to demonstrate that they are significantly more
common. For example, abdominal pain can be a pretty common symptom for many other benign
and malignant pathologies.
Please review this paper.
user
Title: Colorectal cancer pre-diagnostic symptoms are associated with anatomic cancer site
Version: 1 Date: 13 Dec 2023
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS:
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a testable research
question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear objective)?
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for
the objective?
Yes - the approach is appropriate
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor to allow
confidence in the results?
Yes - experiments and analyses were performed appropriately
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
Yes - appropriate statistical analyses have been used in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not
overstated?
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work technically
sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically sound?
Probably - with minor revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS:
GENERAL COMMENTS: Its a well performed study overall but not sure about its novelty
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS:
Overall, this is a well performed study with hardly any flaws, except that I am not sure about
the novelty of the findings.
Generally, patients with symptoms present later than patients detected on screening. In this study
however, patients detected on screening are older in age. Any explanation for this?
'When triaging care, clinical providers and gastroenterologists should pay acute attention to
common pre-diagnostic red flag symptoms by anatomic site. Red flag symptoms have shown to
be a key area of focus that can inform best practices for early evaluation of CRC.' I am not sure
if this can be a conclusion, as the authors have not evaluated the prevalence of these symptoms
in the general population and compared the two to demonstrate that they are significantly more
common. For example, abdominal pain can be a pretty common symptom for many other benign
and malignant pathologies.
assistant