Time to Initiate Treatment for Patients in the Vendée Region with Colon or Rectal Cancer: Data from the Loire-Atlantique and Vendée Cancer Registry (2009–2019)

Introduction – Colorectal cancer is one of the three most common cancers in France in 2023. The time to treatment is an indicator of the quality of care and inequalities in access to care. The objective was to describe the time to treatment for colorectal cancer among patients residing in the Vendée region.Materials and Methods – A sample of 2,143 patients with invasive colon or rectal cancer diagnosed between 2009 and 2019 was included. The treatment delay, defined as the number of days between the date of diagnosis and the date of the first treatment, was analyzed using two indicators: median delay and percentage of long delays (thresholds of 6 weeks for colon cancer and 8 weeks for rectal cancer). Results – For the 1,187 patients with colon cancer, the proportion of long treatment delays increased from 15% to 23% between 2009 and 2019, and the median delay rose from 12 to 21 days. For the 956 patients with rectal cancer, the proportion of long delays rose from 17% to 40%, and the median delay increased from 33 to 50 days. There are geographic disparities within the Vendée region regarding treatment wait times for these two cancer sites. Conclusion – A concerning increase in long treatment wait times has been observed, particularly for rectal cancer. It is essential to identify the key factors related to treatment wait times to guide the implementation of targeted actions by public authorities.

Author(s): Ayrault-Piault Stéphanie, Cowppli-Bony Anne, Delacour-Billon Solenne, Molinié Florence

Publishing year: 2026

Pages: 52-57

Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, 2026, n° 3-4, p. 52-57

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