Reasons for delay in time to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer: A multi-institution study.

e14504 Background: Although adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) has been shown to improve survival in patients with colon cancer (CC), meta-analyses have suggested decreased survival with increasing Time To AC (TTAC). We examined the predominant factors leading to delayed TTAC in routine clinical practice. Methods: Individual medical records were reviewed for 1,608 patients with CC who initiated AC 2005-2012 at eight cancer centers in the Province of Ontario. Patient, disease, and treatment characteristics, plus time intervals between each step in the cancer care pathway from surgery to AC, were captured. Patients were then categorized into three groups for comparison: (I) inter-current illness and/or post-operative complications, (II) oncologist/patient-initiated delay, (III) no medical reason for delay. Groups were compared using chi square tests and one-way ANOVA. A multivariate logistic regression analysis (MVA) was used to determine factors associated with TTAC >8 weeks (wks) for each cohort. Results: The pro...