A new study challenges concerns about delays before colon cancer surgery, showing that waiting up to 49 days does not worsen cancer-free survival.
The multicenter analysis of over 3,300 patients with stage I to III colon cancer found that extending the treatment interval-from diagnosis to surgery-was not linked to worse outcomes, even in patients at high risk for complications.
Researchers categorized intervals as 35 days or fewer, 36 to 49 days, and more than 49 days. Across both high-risk and non-high-risk groups, cancer-free survival was not significantly affected by a delay of up to 49 days.
However, a delay beyond 49 days was associated with poorer five-year overall survival in non-high-risk patients. This association was not seen in the high-risk group.
The findings suggest that a modest window for prehabilitation-optimizing a patient's health before surgery-may be safe and clinically useful, particularly for older or frail patients. The full study was published in the Journal of Geriatric Oncology.