ArticleBMJ open2018
Differences in the outcomes of adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer prescribed by physicians in different disciplines: a population-based study in Taiwan.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physician and Patient Dissatisfaction with Outpatient Pre-Screening Triage in Public Dental Hospitals: Scope and Strategies for Improvement.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesOne feature unique to the Taiwanese healthcare system is the ability of physicians other than oncologists to prescribe systemic chemotherapy. This study investigated whether the care paths implemented by oncologists and non-oncologists differ with regard to patient outcomes.
settingData from the Taiwan Cancer Registry and National Health Insurance Database were linked to identify patients with colon cancer who underwent colectomy as first treatment within 3 months of diagnosis and adjuvant chemotherapy between 2005 and 2009. PARTICIPANTS AND
methodsPostoperative patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy were included in this study. The exclusion criteria included patients with stage IV disease, a positive surgical margin and early disease recurrence. Among the patients presenting with multiple primary cancers, we also excluded patients who were diagnosed with colon cancer but for whom this was not the first primary cancer. The variables included sex, age, comorbidities, disease stage, chemotherapy cycle and changes in treatment regimen as well as the specialty of treatment providers and their case volume. Cox regression models and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to examine differences in outcomes in the matched cohorts.
resultsWe examined 3534 patients who were prescribed adjuvant chemotherapy by physicians from different disciplines. In terms of 5-year disease-free survival, no significant difference was observed between the groups of oncologists or surgeons among patients with stage II (90.02%vs88.99%) or stage III (77.64%vs79.99%) diseases. Patients who were subjected to changes in their chemotherapy regimens presented recurrence rates higher than those who were not.
conclusionsThe discipline of practitioners is seldom taken into account in most series. This is the first study to provide empirical evidence demonstrating that the outcomes of patients with colon cancer do not depend on the treatment path, as long as the selection criteria for adjuvant chemotherapy is appropriate. Further study will be required before making any further conclusions.
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