The effect of comorbidity on the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and type of regimen for curatively resected stage III colon cancer patients.

Postsurgical chemotherapy is guideline-recommended therapy for stage III colon cancer patients. Factors associated with patients not receiving adjuvant chemotherapy were identified in numerous studies; comorbidity was recognized as an important factor besides patient's age. We assessed the association between comorbidity and the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and type of chemotherapy regimen.

Impact of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status on adjuvant chemotherapy use among elderly patients with stage III colon cancer.

Background: It is well recognized that stage III colon cancer patients who received chemotherapy postoperatively can have a reduced risk of recurrence and an improved survival rate. This study examined the impact of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) on receipt of chemotherapy within 4 months after resection among stage III colon cancer patients enrolling in Medicare Parts A and B and trends of utilizing adjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: Stage III colon cancer patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2007 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data.