title: Current practices and challenges of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men and women in the developed world. Although surgery is the foundation of curative treatment, adjuvant chemotherapy also improves overall and disease-free survival in high-risk stage II and all stage III patients. Research strongly suggests that the timing from surgery to adjuvant chemotherapy is critical, because delays to the start of treatment significantly affect patient outcomes. Both clinical and systemic barriers, such as postoperative complications and institutional wait times, challenge the timely administration of adjuvant chemotherapy. Further research investigating solutions to overcome these barriers is needed.
authors.affiliation: St Michael's Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Room 2081, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada. Electronic address: brezdenc@smh.ca.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brezden-Masley
authors.forename: Chanele
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Polenz
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Adjuvant chemotherapy; Colorectal cancer; Time to treatment; Treatment barriers; Wait times