Breast cancer time to treatment in Martinique: predictive factors and effect on survival

Martinique is the second French Region with the lowest physician-to-population ratio, which may affect waiting times for access to care.

To assess (i) factors influencing waiting times from diagnosis to cancer-related treatments in breast cancer women in Martinique, and (ii) the impact of waiting times on patients' survival.

Retrospective observational study.

Data on women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2017 and initially treated by surgery were extracted from the Martinique population-based registry. A cox model was performed to find predictive factors for waiting times. A log-rank test was used to compare time-to-treatment between groups.

In total, 713 patients were included (mean age: 58 ± 13). Median time from diagnosis to surgery was 40 [25-60] days. Age at diagnosis was found to predict variations in waiting times. Patients > 75 had longer waiting time to surgery than those < 40 or [40-50] (P = 0.016 and P < 0.001, respectively). Women with a time-to-treatment ≥ 4 months had a significant lower survival (P < 0.01).

Specific interventions are needed to improve waiting time from diagnosis to initial treatment, as they are longer than recommended and affect survival time.