ArticleCancer causes & control : CCC2013
Do diagnostic and treatment delays for colorectal cancer increase risk of death?
Article in Cancer causes & control : CCC, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effect of time before diagnosis and treatment on colorectal cancer outcomes: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.British journal of cancer · 2023Pooled it
- The Association Between Treatment Interval and Survival in Patients With Colon or Rectal Cancer: A Systematic Review.World journal of surgery · 2021Pooled it
- Conflicting Guidelines: A Systematic Review on the Proper Interval for Colorectal Cancer Treatment.World journal of surgery · 2021Pooled it
- Cancer diagnostic tools to aid decision-making in primary care: mixed-methods systematic reviews and cost-effectiveness analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Is increased time to diagnosis and treatment in symptomatic cancer associated with poorer outcomes? Systematic review.British journal of cancer · 2015Pooled it
- Influence of Diagnostic and Treatment Delays on Survival Outcomes in Patients With Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer: A Multi-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- Short-term surgical outcomes in patients with early- versus average-onset colon adenocarcinoma in the Military Health System.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2025Article
- The pathway to diagnosis of early-onset colorectal cancer: exploring diagnostic intervals and their effect on outcomes.Future oncology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Differential Colorectal Cancer Mortality Across Racial and Ethnic Groups: Impact of Socioeconomic Status, Clinicopathology, and Treatment-Related Factors.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- Delays in Presentation, Diagnosis, and Treatment Among Patients With GI Cancer in Southwest Nigeria.JCO global oncology · 2024Article
- Racial comparisons in treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma and survival in the military health system.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2024Article
- Early Symptom Patterns by Tumor Laterality, Age at Onset, Stage, and Symptom-to-Treatment Initiation in Patients with Colorectal Cancer.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2024Article
- Understanding Colorectal Cancer Patient Experiences with Family Practitioners in Canada.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Article
- Association of time to resection with survival in patients with colon cancer.Surgical endoscopy · 2024Article
- Association between surgery treatment delays and survival outcomes in patients with esophageal cancer in Hebei, China.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Article
- Breast and Colorectal Cancer Screening Utilization after Hurricane María and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Puerto Rico.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Hepatopancreatobiliary malignancies: time to treatment matters.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2023Article
- Relationship between time from symptom's onset to diagnosis and prognosis in patients with symptomatic colorectal cancer.BMC cancer · 2022Article
- Fertility Preservation Discussions Between Young Adult Rectal Cancer Survivors and Their Providers: Sex-Specific Prevalence and Correlates.The oncologist · 2022Article
- Impact of two waves of Sars-Cov2 outbreak on the number, clinical presentation, care trajectories and survival of patients newly referred for a colorectal cancer: A French multicentric cohort study from a large group of university hospitals.International journal of cancer · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUsing 1998-2005 SEER-Medicare data, we examined the effect of diagnostic and treatment delays on all-cause and colorectal cancer (CRC)-specific death among US adults aged ≥ 66 years with invasive colon or rectal cancer. We hypothesized that longer delays would be associated with a greater risk of death.
methodsWe defined diagnostic and treatment delays, respectively, as days between (1) initial medical consult for CRC symptoms and pathologically confirmed diagnosis (maximum: 365 days) and (2) pathologically confirmed diagnosis and treatment (maximum: 120 days). Cases (CRC deaths) and controls (deaths due to other causes or censored) were matched on survival time. Logistic regression analyses adjusted for sociodemographic, tumor, and treatment factors.
resultsMedian diagnostic delays were 60 (colon) and 40 (rectal) days and treatment delays were 13 (colon) and 16 (rectal) days in 10,663 patients. Colon cancer patients with the longest diagnostic delays (8-12 months vs. 14-59 days) had higher odds of all-cause (aOR: 1.31 CI: 1.08-1.58), but not CRC-specific death. Colon cancer patients with the shortest treatment delays (<1 vs. 1-2 weeks) had higher odds of all-cause (aOR: 1.23 CI: 1.01-1.49), but not CRC-specific death. Among rectal cancer patients, delays were not associated with risk of all-cause or CRC-specific death.
conclusionsLonger delays of up to 1 year after symptom onset and 120 days for treatment did not increase odds of CRC-specific death. There may be little clinical benefit in detecting and treating existing symptomatic disease earlier. Screening prior to symptom onset must remain the primary goal to reduce CRC incidence, morbidity, and mortality.
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