Abstract 7346: Disparities in sarcoma care prior to initiation of treatment among patients with newly diagnosed sarcoma
Authors: Lauren Li, Nam Bui, Kristen Ganjoo, Minggui Pan
Journal: Cancer Research (2025)

Abstract Purpose: Disparities in the outcomes for patients with sarcoma have been reported, however, few studies have investigated the disparities in sarcoma care and the related etiologies. We investigated the care disparities and associated factors along the segments of the adult sarcoma care journey from the onset of symptoms to the establishment of diagnosis and sarcoma consult prior to the initiation of treatment. Patients and Methods: This cohort included patients with newly diagnosed soft tissue or bone sarcoma (including benign musculoskeletal neoplasms) who were referred to Stanford Medicine for establishing sarcoma care, from July 2020 to April 2024. We investigated the interval from the onset of symptoms (pain and/or palpable mass) to the first appointment with a primary care provider (PCP wait-time), the interval from first PCP appointment to obtaining the first imaging study for workup such as MRI, PET/CT or a Ct scan (imaging wait-time), the interval from the initial PCP appointment to obtaining the tissue biopsy for establishing the diagnosis (biopsy wait-time), and the interval from the referral date for sarcoma consult to obtaining the sarcoma consult (sarcoma consult wait-time. We also performed a survey among the physicians and non-physician staff within the Stanford sarcoma program to understand the perception of acceptability of wait-time more than 5 weeks. Results: Among 402 eligible patients, approximately one third had PCP wait-time longer than 5 weeks, young adults and Hispanic patients had the highest rate of such long wait-time. Approximately 20% of patients had imaging wait-time longer than 5 weeks, young adults had the highest rate of such long wait-time (30%). There were approximately 5% of patients with sarcoma consult wait-time longer than 5 weeks. However, nearly 80% of patients had biopsy wait-time longer than 5 weeks, African American and Hispanic patients had the highest rate of such long wait-time. In addition, compared to public insurance, there were more patients with private insurance that were associated with PCP wait-time, imaging wait-time, sarcoma consult wait-time and biopsy wait-time longer than 5 weeks. Our survey among the physicians and non-physician staff within the Stanford sarcoma program showed that wait-time longer than 5 weeks was considered unacceptable by a vast majority of responders. Conclusion: Substantial disparities in sarcoma care related to age group, ethnicity and insurance type appear to exist in the multiple segments of sarcoma care journey prior to the initiation of treatment. Biopsy wait-time appears to be the segment of sarcoma care with the highest rate of long wait-time and significant ethnicity disparities. Citation Format: Lauren Li, Nam Bui, Kristen Ganjoo, Minggui Pan. Disparities in sarcoma care prior to initiation of treatment among patients with newly diagnosed sarcoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 7346.