TP9.2.18Are delays to diagnosis and treatment associated with reduced survival in oesophageal cancer?

Aims Oesophageal cancer has low survival rates due to diagnosis commonly occurring in advanced stages. We performed a systematic review of delays to diagnosis and treatment in oesophageal cancer, and the impact of delay on clinical outcome. Methods A systematic review of Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane Library was carried out using the following search terms: (esophageal cancer) AND ((time) OR (diagnosis)) AND ((delay) OR (wait)). 821 results in English were retrieved and independently reviewed by two researchers. Studies were included if they were randomised controlled trials (RCT), meta-analyses or observational studies, and assessed delay in relation to at least one clinical outcome or TNM stage at diagnosis. Results 15277 patients across 12 studies were included. 10/12 studies were retrospective, and there were no RCT. Heterogeneity existed amongst the studies in defining delay and outcomes (morbidity = 1/12, mortality = 2/12, disease-free = 2/12 or overall survival = 5/12, TNM stage = 6/12). No studies demonstrated that reduced delay improved clinical outcome. Longer patient delay correlated with presence of malnutrition in one study but did not result in reduced survival. Conclusions Systematic review of published literature did not demonstrate a relationship between diagnosis/treatment delay and patient outcome in oesophageal cancer. Multi-centre prospective studies/RCTs are required to identify the impact of delay and the optimal timing of treatment.