Effect of Surgery Type on Time to Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Impact of Delay on Breast Cancer Survival: A National Cancer Database Analysis

Background Timeliness of care is emerging as a quality indicator for breast cancer care. We sought to evaluate the impact of surgical treatment type on time to adjuvant chemotherapy and impact of treatment delay on survival. Methods Patients with stage I-III breast cancer treated with both surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy from 2010 to 2014 were identified from the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Delay in treatment was defined as > 120 days from diagnosis to chemotherapy. Multivariable analysis was performed to assess factors associated with delay in treatment and the effect of treatment delay on overall survival. Results Of 172,043 patients identified, 89.5% initiated chemotherapy within 120 days of diagnosis. Median time from diagnosis to surgery was shorter in patients undergoing breast conservation (25 days) than mastectomy (29 days, p < 0.001) and within mastectomy patients was shorter for mastectomy without reconstruction (26 versus 35 days, p < 0.001). Time from diagnosis to surgery showed larger differences between surgical groups than time from surgery to chemotherapy. On multivariable analysis of mastectomy patients, reconstruction remained significantly associated with delay to chemotherapy [odds ratio (OR) 1.7, p < 0.001]. For all patients regardless of type of surgery, after adjusting for patient, clinical, and treatment factors, delay of > 120 days from diagnosis to chemotherapy was associated with worse overall survival [hazard ratio (HR) 1.29, p < 0.001]. Conclusions Initiation of chemotherapy greater than 120 days after diagnosis was associated with poorer overall survival. Time interval from diagnosis to surgery had the greatest impact on time from diagnosis to chemotherapy, with reconstruction resulting in the greatest delay.