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  • Colson-Fearon, Darien; Stone, Rebecca; Viswanathan, Akila N

    International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 2024-Feb-01, Letnik: 118, Številka: 2
    Journal Article

    Radiation therapy (RT) refusal is known to have deleterious effects on survival for multiple cancer types. Factors associated with RT refusal by patients with gynecologic malignancies have not been well described. This study aimed to examine factors associated with and the survival impact of documented RT refusal among patients with gynecologic cancers. This study analyzed data from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) of patients with gynecologic cancers diagnosed between 2004 and 2020. Patients were included if they had complete survival data and a documented RT recommendation by their treating physician in the NCDB. Patients coded as received RT were compared with those coded as refused RT in the NCDB using a multivariate log binomial regression with robust variance to yield incidence rate ratios (IRR). Overall survival was analyzed using a multivariate (MV) Cox proportional hazards model to yield hazard ratios. This study identified 209,976 patients. A total of 5.75% (n = 12,081) patients were coded as refusing RT. Multivariable IRR showed that documentation of RT refusal was positively associated with older age (MV IRR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.041-1.045), Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander race (1.72 1.27-2.32), and increased morbidity (score = 1: 1.06 1.02-1.11; score = 2: 1.20 1.12-1.29; score ≥3: 1.26 1.14-1.38). Negative associations were seen with Hispanic ethnicity (0.74 0.67-0.80), having insurance (0.58 0.53-0.63), and annual income >$74,063 (0.85 0.81-0.90). During the 16-year period, a statistically significant test for trend (P = .001) for increasing RT refusal was noted. RT refusal was associated with a significantly higher risk of death (MV hazard ratio, 1.59 1.55-1.63). For patients with gynecologic malignancies diagnosed from 2004 to 2020, an increase in documented RT refusal is associated with decreased overall survival in all disease types. Targeted interventions aimed at mitigating potential sociodemographic barriers to receipt of RT are warranted.