Don’t Fret Delays in Treating Colon Cancer, Study Suggests

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 15, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Delays in colon cancer treatment may not increase the risk of death, according to a new study.

Canadian researchers examined data from more than 900 people diagnosed with stage 1 to stage 3 colon cancer. Some began treatment within a month of diagnosis, and others started treatment either 30 to 59 days, 60 to 89 days, 90 to 119 days or more than four months after diagnosis.

The average time between diagnosis and the start of treatment was 38 days.

Delaying treatment had no effect on overall survival or on people remaining cancer-free, the researchers said.

The study appears in the December issue of the journal Diseases of the Colon and Rectum.

The researchers hope their findings “will result in discussion regarding the appropriateness of the existing recommendations regarding optimal wait time to surgery targets,” said study author Dr. Kerollos Wanis, from Western University in Ontario.

“We also hope that our study will assuage provider and patient anxiety regarding surgical treatment delay, particularly when additional preoperative work-up and optimization is required,” Wanis said in a journal news release.

— Robert Preidt

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SOURCE: Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, news release, Nov. 13, 2017