For patients with stage 2 or greater bladder cancer, care transitions linked with treatment delay

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the Journal of Urology, researchers have found patients with stage 2 or higher urothelial carcinoma who underwent a care transition were more likely to experience a delay in treatment of 3 months or greater.

For the study, researchers sought to investigate whether changing hospitals between diagnosis and therapy for patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer would experience a delay in timely treatment. They identified 22,251 patients with stage 2 or greater urothelial carcinoma treated between 2003 and 2010 from the National Cancer Database.

Patients were considered to have underwent a care transition if they experienced a change in hospital between diagnosis of cancer and treatment with radical cystectomy or the initiation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Of all patients identified, 14.2% experienced a treatment delay of 3 months or more.

This proportion increased from 13.5% between 2003 and 2006 to 14.8% between 2007 and 2010 (P = 0.01). Of the patients who underwent a care transition, 19.4% experienced a treatment delay of 3 months or greater versus 10.7% who were diagnosed and treated at the same facility. The authors suggest that expediting care transitions at the time of hospital referral may improve the quality of care for patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer.