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Why so late?!—delay in treatment of colorectal cancer is socially determined

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Abstract

Purpose

The interval between symptom onset and therapy in patients with colorectal cancer was studied.

Methods

One hundred twenty three patients with colorectal cancer were included. Demography data, symptoms, consultations, and tumour stage were obtained by standardized questionnaires. Risk factors for delayed treatment were analysed.

Results

Eighty six patients suffered from colonic cancer. The total time between the first symptoms and therapy ranged from 13 to 442 days (mean, 148). Delay of surgical therapy was responsible for significantly higher tumour grades. Delayed start of therapy was found to be correlated to the type of cancer, socioeconomic status, marital status, and quality of first consultation (univariate analysis). On multivariate analyses, type of cancer, marital and socioeconomic status remained significantly associated with delayed treatment (all p values ≤ 0.001, r2 = 0.50).

Conclusions

The delay in treatment of colorectal cancer depends on socioeconomic status and family background. Achieving equity in colorectal cancer detection may require consideration of high-risk subgroups.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This study was funded in part by the German Ministry of Education and Research (CHIR-Net, grant 01GH0605). Data were presented at the 13th Congress of the Surgical Research Section of the German Surgical Society held in Munich Germany on September 10–12, 2009.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helios St. Elisabeth Klinik Oberhausen, Department of Surgery II, University of Witten/Herdecke, Oberhausen, Germany

    Mike Ralf Langenbach

  2. Helios Klinikum Wuppertal, Department of Surgery II, University of Witten/Herdecke, Wuppertal, Germany

    Karl-Wilhelm Kröbel & Hubert Zirngibl

  3. Institute for Research in Operative Medicine (IFOM), University Witten/Herdecke, Cologne, Germany

    Stefan Sauerland

  4. Klinik für Allgemein-/Viszeralchirurgie und Koloproktologie, Helios St. Elisabeth Klinik, Josefstrasse 3, 46045, Oberhausen, Germany

    Mike Ralf Langenbach

Authors
  1. Mike Ralf Langenbach
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  2. Stefan Sauerland
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  3. Karl-Wilhelm Kröbel
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  4. Hubert Zirngibl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mike Ralf Langenbach.

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Authors' contributions

Study conception and design: Langenbach, Sauerland, Kroebel and Zirngibl Acquisition of data: Langenbach and KroebelAnalysis and interpretation of data: Langenbach, Sauerland, Kroebel and ZirngiblDrafting of manuscript: Langenbach and SauerlandCritical revision of manuscript: Langenbach, Sauerland and Zirngibl

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Langenbach, M.R., Sauerland, S., Kröbel, KW. et al. Why so late?!—delay in treatment of colorectal cancer is socially determined. Langenbecks Arch Surg 395, 1017–1024 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-010-0664-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-010-0664-8

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