US wait times for cancer surgeries are getting longer and longer

In recent years, cancer care in the United States has seen a worrying trend: longer wait times for surgery, particularly for patients with six common types of the disease. A study published in JAMA Surgery reveals that patients with breast, colon, lung, pancreatic, gastric, and esophageal cancers have faced increasingly lengthy delays since 2012.

The study examined over 2.7 million patients diagnosed with non-metastatic stage I–III cancers requiring surgery during this period. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, analyzed this data in four time frames: 2012–2015, 2016–2019, 2020–2021, and 2022–2023. The study's lead author, cancer expert Timothy Donahue, highlighted the importance of timely surgery, noting that delays can lead to poorer outcomes such as reduced survival rates and heightened patient anxiety.