eP720 - How Long Is Too Long? Wait Times for Diagnosis to Treatment in Colon Cancer

ePoster Presenter(s)

• 

  Mariana Tumminello, MD

  Resident Physician
  Medstar Georgetown Washington Hospital Center
  MedStar Georgetown/Washington Hospital Center
  Washington, DC, United States

  All of the relevant financial relationships listed below have been mitigated.
  This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Author(s)

• DH

  Dionisio E. Hipolito, n/a

  Medical Student (MS4)
  Medstar Georgetown University Hospital
  LUTHERVILLE, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.
• CM

  Chelsea McDermott, MD

  Resident Physician
  MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, MedStar Washington Hospital Center
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.
• 

  Jacob M. Broome, MD

  Resident Physician
  Medstar Georgetown Washington Hospital Center
  Georgetown Washington Hospital Center
  20009, DC, United States

  All of the relevant financial relationships listed below have been mitigated.
  This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.
• 

  Timothy J. Holleran, MD

  Resident Physician
  MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
  Washington, DC, United States

  All relevant financial disclosures have been managed and will be listed below.
  This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.
• AF

  Anne Fabrizio, MD

  Colorectal Surgeon
  Medstar Georgetown University Hospital
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.
• SB

  Sara Berkey, MD

  Colon and Rectal Surgeon
  Medstar Health
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  All relevant financial disclosures have been managed and will be listed below.
  This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.
• PA

  Preetha Ali, MD

  Colon & Rectal Surgeon
  Medstar Washington Hospital Center
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.
• 

  Brian L. Bello, MD

  Division Chief
  Department of Colon & Rectal Surgery, MedStar Washington Hospital Center
  MedStar Washington Hospital Center
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  All relevant financial disclosures have been managed and will be listed below.
  This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Senior Author(s)

• ZS

  Zhifei Sun, MD

  Assistant Professor of Surgery
  MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
  Falls Church, Virginia, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.

Purpose/Background: The diagnosis of colon cancer is emotionally challenging for patients. Delays in diagnosis, medical and surgical planning, and preoperative risk stratification can heighten the stress felt by patients who are awaiting definitive management. These delays and their effect on patient satisfaction have been poorly studied. Our aim is to understand average wait times and barriers to staging and definitive treatment within the colon cancer journey.Methods/Interventions: We performed a retrospective review of patients with non-metastatic colon cancer who underwent non-emergent colon surgeries at a single, high volume academic center (2017-2022). Time intervals (in days) from time points along the colon cancer journey were evaluated, including time from diagnosis as defined by pathologic reporting to first Colon and Rectal Surgery (CRS) visit, staging cross sectional imaging, date of operation, and medical oncology follow-up.Results/Outcomes: In total, 207 patients were included, of which 43.3% were female and 48.5% were non-white. Median time from diagnosis to staging workup was 9 days, diagnosis to CRS visit was 15 days, and CRS visit to surgery was 33 days. Median length of stay after surgery was 3 days. Median time from discharge to Medical Oncology follow up was 23 days. When adjusted for age, patients > 65 years old required more frequent pre-operative risk stratification and additional specialty consults compared to those aged < 65 years (both p < 0.0001). This trend was also noted when adjusted for insurance status with Medicaid/Medicare patient requiring more frequent risk stratification and specialty consults. When adjusted for race, time from diagnosis to staging workup was significantly longer for non-white patients (9 vs 15 days, p =0.042). No other time points were longer for non-white patients when compared to white patients.Conclusion/

Discussion: We hope this study improves understanding of delays in care for colorectal cancer patients and plan to use this data to assess patient satisfaction with wait times in future studies.Figure 1.Timeline of median patient wait times in colon cancer