Radiotherapy waiting times for women with breast cancer in South East England

TY - CHAP

T1 - Radiotherapy waiting times for women with breast cancer in South East England

AU - Davies, Elizabeth

AU - Jack, Ruth

AU - Robinson, David

AU - Massey, Tom

AU - Sehgal, Ashu

AU - Moller, Henrik

PY - 2005

Y1 - 2005

N2 - Objective To examine 1) factors affecting whether women with breast cancer patients received radiotherapy within 60 days of their diagnosis or previous treatment, and 2) the relationship between length of wait and subsequent survival. Methods 35354 women resident in South East England and diagnosed with breast cancer between 1992 and 2001 who received radiotherapy within 6 months of diagnosis were identified from the Thames Cancer Registry. Time to radiotherapy was measured from either the date of diagnosis or the start of the previous treatment, whichever was shorter. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were fitted to examine whether patients received radiotherapy within 60 days of their diagnosis or previous treatment. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess survival from date of radiotherapy, by whether patients waited 0-30, 31-60 or 61 or more days for radiotherapy. Results There was significant variation between different cancer networks in the proportion of patients receiving radiotherapy within 60 days of diagnosis or previous treatment, (adjusted proportions ranged from 43% to 81%). The adjusted proportions of patients receiving radiotherapy within 60 days decreased from 68% in 1992 to 33% in 2001. There was no association between deprivation of area of residence, age or stage and radiotherapy wait after adjustment. Patients who waited 31-60 days for radiotherapy had the highest 5-year survival (81%), followed by patients who waited 61 days or longer (78%). Those waiting 0-30 days had the lowest survival (73%). Conclusion Results are consistent with other findings suggesting variation between cancer networks, increasing waits over time and that differing waiting times are associated with different survival. This study covered a period of time before the investment following the Cancer Plan of 2000. Further studies could examine different methods of measuring waiting time, the causes and consequences of waits for radiotherapy and the effect of current initiatives and investment.

AB - Objective To examine 1) factors affecting whether women with breast cancer patients received radiotherapy within 60 days of their diagnosis or previous treatment, and 2) the relationship between length of wait and subsequent survival. Methods 35354 women resident in South East England and diagnosed with breast cancer between 1992 and 2001 who received radiotherapy within 6 months of diagnosis were identified from the Thames Cancer Registry. Time to radiotherapy was measured from either the date of diagnosis or the start of the previous treatment, whichever was shorter. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were fitted to examine whether patients received radiotherapy within 60 days of their diagnosis or previous treatment. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess survival from date of radiotherapy, by whether patients waited 0-30, 31-60 or 61 or more days for radiotherapy. Results There was significant variation between different cancer networks in the proportion of patients receiving radiotherapy within 60 days of diagnosis or previous treatment, (adjusted proportions ranged from 43% to 81%). The adjusted proportions of patients receiving radiotherapy within 60 days decreased from 68% in 1992 to 33% in 2001. There was no association between deprivation of area of residence, age or stage and radiotherapy wait after adjustment. Patients who waited 31-60 days for radiotherapy had the highest 5-year survival (81%), followed by patients who waited 61 days or longer (78%). Those waiting 0-30 days had the lowest survival (73%). Conclusion Results are consistent with other findings suggesting variation between cancer networks, increasing waits over time and that differing waiting times are associated with different survival. This study covered a period of time before the investment following the Cancer Plan of 2000. Further studies could examine different methods of measuring waiting time, the causes and consequences of waits for radiotherapy and the effect of current initiatives and investment.

M3 - Meeting abstract

SP - 14

EP - 14

BT - UK Association of Cancer Registries 14th Annual Conference

PB - Unknown Publisher

T2 - UK Association of Cancer Registries Conference

Y2 - 28 September 2005 through 29 September 2005

ER -