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Relationship Between the Waiting Times for Surgery and Survival in Patients with Gastric Cancer

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Abstract

Background

Surgery for gastric cancer should be performed as soon as possible after diagnosis. However, sometimes the waiting time for surgery tends to be longer. The relation between the waiting time for surgery and survival in patients with gastric cancer remains to be fully investigated.

Methods

This retrospective, single-center cohort study evaluated patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative surgery from 2006 through 2012 at Kanagawa Cancer Center in Japan. Patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were excluded. The waiting time for surgery was defined as the time between the first visit and surgery. We investigated whether the waiting time for surgery has a linear negative impact on outcomes by using a Cox regression model with clinical prognostic factors.

Results

In total, 801 patients were eligible. The median waiting time was 45 days (range 10–269 days). The restricted cubic spline regression curve showed that the adjusted time-specific hazard ratios of waiting times did not indicate a linear negative trend on survival between 20 and 100 days (p = 0.759). In the Cox model with a quartile of waiting times, waiting times in the 32–44-day group, 43–62-day group, and ≥63 day groups were not associated with poorer overall survival as compared with the ≤31 day group (HR: 1.01, 95% CI 0.63–1.60, p = 0.984, HR: 1.17, 95% CI 0.70–1.94, p = 0.550, HR: 1.06, 95% CI 0.60–1.88, p = 0.831, respectively).

Conclusions

There was no negative relation between the waiting time for surgery (within 100 days) and survival in patients with gastric cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2 Nakao, Asahiku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 241-8515, Japan

    Yuta Kumazu, Tsutomu Hayashi, Takanobu Yamada, Kentaro Hara, Hiroaki Osakabe, Yota Shimoda, Masato Nakazono, Shinsuke Nagasawa, Takashi Ogata & Takashi Oshima

  2. Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyoku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Koji Oba

  3. Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawaku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004, Japan

    Yasushi Rino & Munetaka Masuda

  4. Department of Gastric Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuoku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Takaki Yoshikawa

Authors
  1. Yuta Kumazu
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  2. Koji Oba
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  3. Tsutomu Hayashi
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  4. Takanobu Yamada
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  5. Kentaro Hara
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  6. Hiroaki Osakabe
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  7. Yota Shimoda
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  8. Masato Nakazono
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  9. Shinsuke Nagasawa
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  10. Yasushi Rino
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  11. Munetaka Masuda
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  12. Takashi Ogata
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  13. Takaki Yoshikawa
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  14. Takashi Oshima
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tsutomu Hayashi.

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Conflict of interest

Koji Oba has following relevant financial activities outside the submitted work: Honoraria from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd; Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd; Eisai Co., Ltd; Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd.; Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. Other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical statement

The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Boards of Kanagawa Cancer Center.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Kumazu, Y., Oba, K., Hayashi, T. et al. Relationship Between the Waiting Times for Surgery and Survival in Patients with Gastric Cancer. World J Surg 44, 1209–1215 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-020-05367-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-020-05367-8

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