Cancer Res Treat.  2016 Jul;48(3):962-969. 10.4143/crt.2015.173.

Delay of Treatment Initiation Does Not Adversely Affect Survival Outcome in Breast Cancer

• Yoo TK
• Han W
• Moon HG
• Kim J
• Lee JW
• Kim MK
• Lee E
• Kim J
• Noh DY

• KMID: 2344069
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2015.173

Abstract

PURPOSE
Previous studies examining the relationship between time to treatment and survival outcome in breast cancer have shown inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to analyze the overall impact of delay of treatment initiation on patient survival and to determine whether certain subgroups require more prompt initiation of treatment.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study is a retrospective analysis of stage I-III patients who were treated in a single tertiary institution between 2005 and 2008. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to evaluate the impact of interval between diagnosis and treatment initiation in breast cancer and various subgroups.
RESULTS
A total of 1,702 patients were included. Factors associated with longer delay of treatment initiation were diagnosis at another hospital, medical comorbidities, and procedures performed before admission for surgery. An interval between diagnosis and treatment initiation as a continuous variable or with a cutoff value of 15, 30, 45, and 60 days had no impact on disease-free survival (DFS). Subgroup analyses for hormone-responsiveness, triple-negative breast cancer, young age, clinical stage, and type of initial treatment showed no significant association between longer delay of treatment initiation and DFS.
CONCLUSION
Our results show that an interval between diagnosis and treatment initiation of 60 days or shorter does not appear to adversely affect DFS in breast cancer.

Keyword

Breast neoplasms; Time-to-treatment; Survival rate

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Comorbidity
Diagnosis
Disease-Free Survival
Humans
Retrospective Studies
Survival Rate
Time-to-Treatment
Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Distribution of interval between diagnosis and treatment initiation.

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  Fig. 2. Kaplan-Meier survival curves of disease-free survival (DFS) by interval between diagnosis and treatment. (A) DFS by interval of ≥ 15 days versus 0-14 days. (B) DFS by interval of ≥ 30 days versus 0-29 days. (C) DFS by interval of ≥ 45 days versus 0-44 days. (D) DFS by interval of ≥ 60 days versus 0-59 days.

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  Fig. 3. Kaplan-Meier survival curves of overall survival by interval of ≥ 30 days versus 0-29 days.

Reference

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