Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT
Andrew L. Salner, Shelby Smith, Peter Paul Yu
Background: Adjuvant chemotherapy treatment has contributed to the reduction in cause-specific mortality from early stage breast cancer by reducing the risk of recurrence and metastasis. The initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy is typically started within 4-8 weeks following surgery. Although earlier treatment does not necessarily render a better prognosis, treatment delayed beyond 12 weeks may result in an unfavorable decrease in disease-free survival. In order to explore quality data for each of our 5 cancer centers and their breast surgeons, we conducted a quality outcomes project to examine our data and factors which could result in delay. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review evaluating all cases of patients diagnosed with stage 1 and 2 breast cancer at all of our cancer centers during the 2015 and 2016 calendar years, utilizing patient lists obtained from our cancer registries. Patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy or who had inadequate data were excluded. Variables included stage at diagnosis, percent of nodal positivity, age at diagnosis, race and ethnicity, attending surgeon, type of surgery (breast conservation vs. mastectomy +/- reconstruction), and number of days from final breast surgery to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy treatment. Results: 757 and 319 patients with Stage I and II breast cancer respectively were identified in our 5 cancer centers. 16% had nodal positivity, and 25.6% received adjuvant chemotherapy. Average age at diagnosis was 62.5, and average age for node positive and adjuvant chemotherapy were 58.5 and 56.8. Days to chemotherapy ranged from 3-208, with 94% of patients treated in less than 12 weeks and ranges of mean days to begin chemotherapy 35.6 to 55.4 in our cancer centers. No significant differences were noted by age, race, ethnicity, stage, surgery type, surgeon, or hospital. Conclusions: This study reveals outcomes suggesting that our breast cancer teams at our cancer centers are meeting the current standard of care for initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy, and points to the value of quality studies in assuring standards of care.
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