Overview
- A JAMA Surgery analysis of 2,731,059 stage 1–3 cancer cases published Aug. 12 used National Cancer Database records from 2012–2023 to measure time from diagnosis to first-course therapy.
- Median waits rose by roughly 9–14 days across six cancers, with examples including breast cancer from 34 to 45 days and lung cancer from 41 to 53 days.
- The lengthening was uneven, with larger increases for patients treated at academic centers or in the U.S. West and for Black patients, Medicaid recipients, low-income patients, and those who travel farther for care.
- Authors and reporters point to multiple system drivers such as staffing shortages, limited facility resources, more referrals to higher-level centers, slower insurance and testing processes, and greater procedural complexity including robotic surgery for non-breast cancers.
- Experts warn the delays matter clinically because prior studies link each 30-day treatment delay with measurable increases in mortality, and the trend could deepen inequities and strain surgical capacity unless hospitals and payers speed referrals and testing.