[Gastric cancer cases in Brazil and waiting times for diagnosis and treatment]

The aim is to describe the sociodemographic and clinical-epidemiological profile of hospital cases of gastric cancer and to analyze factors associated with the Time-to-Treatment in Brazil. Exploratory study of sociodemographic and clinical-epidemiological characteristics of cases of gastric cancer. Time-to-Treatment were continuously estimated and then categorized into ≤ 60/> 60 days to estimate prevalence. Factors associated with delay in treatment were considered by simple and multiple logistic regression. Results: the time between diagnosis and initiation of treatment, both for cases that arrived without diagnosis and without treatment, and for those that arrived with diagnosis and without treatment, was shorter for cases whose 1st intervention was surgery and those with staging- III /IV. The main factors associated with delayed treatment were: age, region, marital status, education, city of residence, staging and first intervention received. There was a disparity in the time-to-treatment according to the 1st intervention received, staging and status of arrival at the institution. In addition, there was an association between sociodemographic and clinical factors and a delay in starting treatment.