Role of nurse navigator in completion of multi-modality rectal cancer treatment.

e17651 Background: Standard treatment of stage II/III rectal cancer includes neoadjuvant CRT followed by surgery and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. A significant proportion of patients with rectal cancer do not complete their postoperative treatment plan, which has a great impact on disease outcomes. The utilization of a Nurse Navigator (NN) to assist in the completion and adherance to adjuvant chemotherapy is one way to accomplish this. We looked at the completion of post operative adjuvant therapy in patients at our institution prior to and after hiring an NN. Methods: Our study design includes a retrospective review of patients from Jan 2006 to Feb 2013 from our Institutional data base at Leo Jenkins Cancer Center. A total of 43 patients diagnosed with locally advanced rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant CRT followed by resection were identified. Data points analyzed included demographics, stage, neoadjuvant therapy, surgery, number of patients before who received and completed adjuvant therap...