Simone Mathoulin-Pélissier, Dominique Auby, E. Rullier, Gaëlle Coureau, Anne Jaffre, Elodie Pinon, Geneviève Belleannée, Yves Becouarn, Jean-Louis Renaud-Salis, Unité de Recherche en Epidémiologie Clinique, Institut Bergonié [Bordeaux], UNICANCER-UNICANCER-Cancéropôle du Grand Sud-Ouest, Centre d'investigation clinique et d'épidémiologie clinique 7 (CIC-EC7), Université Bordeaux Segalen - Bordeaux 2-CHU Bordeaux [Bordeaux]-Institut Bergonié [Bordeaux], UNICANCER-UNICANCER-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Cancéropôle du Grand Sud-Ouest, Département d'Oncologie médicale, Service de pathologie, CHU Bordeaux [Bordeaux]-Hôpital Haut-Lévêque [CHU Bordeaux], CHU Bordeaux [Bordeaux]-Cancéropôle du Grand Sud-Ouest, Le Réseau de Cancérologie d'Aquitaine, Agence Nationale Sanitaire et Scientifique en Cancérologie (ANSSC)-Institut national du cancer [Boulogne] (INCA), Registre Général des Cancers de la Gironde, Université Bordeaux Segalen - Bordeaux 2-Institut Bergonié [Bordeaux], UNICANCER-UNICANCER-Institut de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie et de Développement (ISPED), Département de Médecine, Centre Hospitalier Libourne, Service de Chirurgie Générale (A), CHU Bordeaux [Bordeaux]-Hôpital Saint-André, The authors thank I. Cirilo-Cassaigne for participation in data collection, physicians of the cancer units, the Aquitaine Gastro Association, the Committee of Regional Medical Information for regional data, the 'Ligue contre le cancer' for financial support, Regional Aquitaine Group for Colorectal cancer (GRACCOR), and BMC, Ed.
Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) care has improved considerably, particularly since the implementation of a quality of care program centered on national evidence-based guidelines. Formal quality assessment is however still needed. The aim of this research was to identify factors associated with practice variation in CRC patient care. Methods CRC patients identified from all cancer centers in South-West France were included. We investigated variations in practices (from diagnosis to surgery), and compliance with recommended guidelines for colon and rectal cancer. We identified factors associated with three colon cancer practice variations potentially linked to better survival: examination of ≥12 lymph nodes (LN), non-use and use of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II and stage III patients, respectively. Results We included 1,206 patients, 825 (68%) with colon and 381 (32%) with rectal cancer, from 53 hospitals. Compliance was high for resection, pathology report, LN examination, and chemotherapy use for stage III patients. In colon cancer, 26% of stage II patients received adjuvant chemotherapy and 71% of stage III patients. 84% of stage US T3T4 rectal cancer patients received pre-operative radiotherapy. In colon cancer, factors associated with examination of ≥12 LNs were: lower ECOG score, advanced stage and larger hospital volume; factors negatively associated were: left sided tumor location and one hospital district. Use of chemotherapy in stage II patients was associated with younger age, advanced stage, emergency setting and care structure (private and location); whereas under-use in stage III patients was associated with advanced age, presence of comorbidities and private hospitals. Conclusions Although some changes in practices may have occurred since this observational study, these findings represent the most recent report on practices in CRC in this region, and offer a useful methodological approach for assessing quality of care. Guideline compliance was high, although some organizational factors such as hospital size or location influence practice variation. These factors should be the focus of any future guideline implementation.