Abstract P1-08-32: Treatment delivery waiting times for stage I-III breast cancer patients in Switzerland : A pooled analysis of 7 cancer registries over the 2003-2008 period
Authors: Zwahlen DR , Herrmann C , Mousavi M , Bordoni A , Bouchardy C , Konzelmann I , Staehlin K , Rohrmann S , Oehler C , Zimmermann M 
Published: May 2019

Background: To examine time intervals between needle/core biopsy, breast cancer diagnosis, surgery and radiotherapy (RT) as quality metrics in the management of stage I-III breast cancer in a representative Swiss population sample.

Methods: Based on seven regional cancer registries covering 45% of the Swiss population, we identified 2628 women which underwent surgery for stage I-III breast cancer without receiving (neo)-adjuvant chemotherapy between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2005.

Four different time intervals were defined: a) time between needle/core biopsy and diagnosis of breast cancer, b) time between diagnosis of breast cancer and surgery, c) time between needle/core biopsy and surgery, d) time between surgery and adjuvant RT.

These four time intervals were analyzed according to age, nationality, health insurance status, public vs. private hospitals and geography. We also investigated whether case discussion at tumor board delayed patient management.

A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparison tests were used to assess differences between groups. All tests were performed using STATA v.15.

Results: 2628 women were identified, median age was 67 years (IQR: 58-77). Breast-conserving surgery was performed in 1899 cases (72.3%), mastectomy in 539 cases (20.5%), unspecified surgery /missing data in 190 cases (7.2%). Adjuvant RT was delivered in 1546/2628 patients (58.8 %).

Time interval between biopsy and surgery was age-dependent, ranging from 22 days (95% CI: 19.6 - 25.2) for women &lt; 60 years to 39 days (95% CI: 27.0-50.3) for women 80+ years old (p&lt;0.001). After biopsy, women waited on average 19 days until surgery in private clinics (95% CI: 16.4-21.6) and 30 days in public hospitals (95% CI: 26.6-33.3) (p&lt;0.001). Women with private insurance were operated 24 days after biopsy (95% CI: 17.0-31.1), compared with 30 days (95% CI: 27.1-33.2) (p&lt;0.01)for women with basic state insurance. After biopsy, time interval for foreign nationals was significantly longer than for Swiss citizen (30 vs 24 days, p&lt;0.01). Tumor board presentation postponed surgery by 10 days (31 vs 22 days, p&lt;0.01).

Time between surgery and RT did not correlate with age (p=0.83); the interval was 33% longer in tertiary teaching hospitals than in private clinics (61 vs. 46 days, p&lt;0.001), and 8 days longer for patients with private insurance than for those without (61 vs 53 days, p&lt;0.01). There was a trend for foreign nationals to receive adjuvant RT later than Swiss citizen (58 vs 55 days, p=0.09). RT started later in larger metropolitan areas compared to more rural regions (59 vs 53 days, p&lt;0.01). Presenting patients at a tumor board after surgery had no impact on RT start (p=0.12).

Conclusions: Major differences in treatment waiting times were observed between patients with stage I-III breast cancer. Elderly and foreign patients were at risk for delayed surgery after biopsy. Data from patients with longer timelines need to be analyzed to identify further reasons for delays.

Citation Format: Zwahlen DR, Herrmann C, Mousavi M, Bordoni A, Bouchardy C, Konzelmann I, Staehlin K, Rohrmann S, Oehler C, Zimmermann M. Treatment delivery waiting times for stage I-III breast cancer patients in Switzerland : A pooled analysis of 7 cancer registries over the 2003-2008 period [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-08-32.