The effect of time from diagnosis to surgery on oncological outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for colon cancer: A systematic review.

ABSTRACT

Many countries have implemented cancer pathways with strict time limits dictating the pace of diagnostic testing and treatment. There are concerns that prehabilitation may worsen long-term oncological outcomes if surgery is delayed. We aimed to systematically review the literature investigating the association between increased time between diagnosis of colon cancer and surgical treatment, with special focus on survival outcomes. METHODS: Through a systematic search and analysis of the databases PubMed (1966-2017), EMBASE (1974-2017), CINHAL (1981-2017), and The Cochrane Library performed on June 7th, 2017, the effect of treatment delays on overall survival in colon cancer patients was reviewed. Treatment delay was defined as time from diagnosis to initiation of surgical treatment. All patients included were diagnosed with colon cancer and treated with elective curative surgery without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This review was prospectively registered on the PROSPERO database of systematic review protocols with registration number CRD42017059774. RESULTS: Five observational studies including 13,514 patients were included. The treatment delay intervals ranged from 1 to ≥56 days. Four of the five studies found no association between time elapsed from diagnosis to surgery and reduced overall survival. One study found a clinically insignificant association between longer treatment delays and overall survival. Three studies investigated the effect on disease specific survival and found no negative associations. CONCLUSION: The available data showed no association between treatment delay and reduced overall survival in colon cancer patients.