ArticleSurgery2022
What's the magic number? Impact of time to initiation of treatment for rectal cancer.
Article in Surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of Early Versus Delayed Chemotherapy on Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer after Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Treatment delay significantly increases mortality in colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis.GeroScience · 2025Pooled 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
- Timeliness of Colorectal Cancer Care in Veterans: The Role of Travel Distance.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- SAGES colorectal and metabolic bariatric surgery committee joint task force call to action for synchronized severe obesity and colorectal cancer management.Surgical endoscopy · 2026Review
- 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
- Risk Model for Predicting Gaps in Surgical Oncology Care Among Patients With Stage I-III Rectal Cancer From KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.JCO global oncology · 2025Article
- NCCN guideline concordance in colon and rectal cancer patients within a comprehensive health system.American journal of surgery · 2025Article
- Hepatopancreatobiliary malignancies: time to treatment matters.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2023Article
- The relation of blood cell division control protein 42 level with disease risk, comorbidity, tumor features/markers, and prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNational guidelines, including the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer, recommend initiation of rectal cancer treatment within 60 days of diagnosis; however, the effect of timely treatment initiation on oncologic outcomes is unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact on oncologic outcomes of initiation of rectal cancer treatment within 60 days of diagnosis.
methodsThis was a retrospective review of stage II/III rectal cancer patients performed using the United States Rectal Cancer Consortium, a collaboration of 6 academic medical centers. Patients with clinical stage II/III rectal cancer who underwent radical resection between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2018 were included. The primary exposure was treatment initiation, defined as either resection or initiation of chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy, within 60 days of diagnosis. The primary outcome was disease recurrence, and the secondary outcome was all-cause mortality.
resultsA total of 1,031 patients meeting inclusion criteria were included in the analysis. Treatment was initiated within 60 days of diagnosis in 830 patients (80.5%) and after 60 days in 201 patients (20.3%). In multivariable logistic regression, older age, non-White race, and residence greater than 100 miles from the treatment center were significantly associated with delay in treatment beyond 60 days. In survival analysis, 167 patients (16.2%) experienced recurrent disease, and 127 patients (12.3%) died of any cause. In an adjusted model accounting for pathologic staging, treatment sequence, distance to care, age, comorbidities, treatment center, and receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy, neither progression-free survival nor all-cause mortality was significantly associated with timely initiation of therapy with hazard ratios of 1.09 (0.70, 1.69) and 1.03 (0.63, 1.66), respectively.
conclusionThis study found no difference in oncologic outcomes with initiation of treatment beyond 60 days.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.