Overall survival of patients with colon cancer and a prolonged time to surgery

Background Factors associated with the time to surgery (TTS) and survival in colon cancer (CC) have not been well studied. Our aim was to find if the TTS has changed in our institution over time and to determine if it influences the survival. Methods Retrospective cross-section study of 266 CC analyzed between two periods, and according to the quartiles of TTS, we performed a survival analysis. Results The median age was 57 years; there was no predominance of sex, and about half of the patients were in stage III. The median TTS was 38 days, and 75% of the cases were operated before 60 days. The median TTS for 2005 to 2010 was 36 days, while for 2011 to 2015 was 41 days (P = 0.107). The survival was not statistically different between cases (1) operated with a delayed TTS or not, (2) operated in four cut-off points of TTS, (3) two different periods of attention, and (4) according to the clinical stage. Conclusion We did not find an association between the TTS with low survival. TTS has increased in the last period so we must work to make the diagnostic process more efficient in our patients to meet international quality standards.