Patient wait times to receive first-course therapy after a cancer diagnosis grew by almost two weeks between 2012 and 2023, according to a study published Aug. 12 in JAMA Surgery.
For the study, researchers from the University of California Los Angeles and Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed National Cancer Database data from 2,731,059 patients.
Here are five notes on the study:
- Patients included in the study were diagnosed with nonmetastatic, stage 1-3 breast, colon, lung, pancreatic, gastric or esophageal cancer between January 2012 and December 2023 and underwent definitive surgical resection.
- Wait times were measured from diagnosis to first-course therapy, which researchers defined as up-front surgery or neoadjuvant therapy prior to surgery.
- Between 2012 and 2023, median wait times increased across all cancer types included in the study, and both among patients who underwent up-front surgery and those who received neoadjuvant therapy prior to surgery.
- The change in median wait times between diagnosis and first-course therapy, by cancer type, were:
| Median wait times (days) | |||
| Cancer type | 2012-2015 | 2022-2023 | Change |
| Breast | 34 | 45 | +11 |
| Colon | 20 | 31 | +11 |
| Lung | 41 | 53 | +12 |
| Pancreas | 23 | 32 | +9 |
| Gastric | 35 | 49 | +14 |
| Esophageal | 38 | 48 | +10 |
- Longer wait times were more pronounced for patients who received care at academic centers or in the U.S.’ West region, Black patients, and among patients with Medicaid, patients in the lowest-quartile income or those who had an increased travel distance.
Among patients with nonbreast cancers, the use of robotic technology was associated with longer wait times.
Read the full study here.
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