Recommendations for studying the association of the cancer diagnosis to treatment interval with overall survival: a modified Delphi process.

Abstract

Background: The duration from diagnosis to primary treatment initiation (DTI) is an important interval for patients with cancer, as delayed treatment has been found to be associated with heightened recurrence rates and worsened survival. Studying the association between DTI duration and overall survival (OS) is biased and confounded by clinical triaging, heterogeneous definitions, and variation in analytic approaches.

Objective: To develop consensus-based guidance for conducting studies investigating the association of DTI duration and OS.

Methods: A multidisciplinary panel was recruited to participate in a three-round modified Delphi approach to develop consensus recommendations on the best methodological practices when studying the association between DTI duration and OS.

Results: The Delphi panel consisted of 15 experts in the fields of epidemiology, biostatistics, health services research, oncology, and health policy. A list of 24 recommendations with accompanying elaborations was generated including variable definition and measurement, cohort creation, confounder control, pertinent biases, analytic techniques, and balanced interpretation of results.

Conclusion: Providing valid evidence of the DTI effect on OS requires careful approaches. This paper offers recommendations on how to improve methodological quality. This will ensure that future studies effectively contribute to evidence-informed practice decisions on appropriate waiting times for patients with cancer.