Disparities in organ preservation rate for high-risk stage I rectal cancer.

37 Background: Guidelines for the treatment of high-risk stage I rectal cancer is a curative oncologic resection, while recommendations for stage II/III rectal cancer include neoadjuvant therapy with the option for organ preservation. The paradoxical nature of treating less advanced stage cancer with more morbid surgery calls into question the use of organ preservation strategies (OP) for less advanced disease. While sphincter preservation is appealing, benefits from OP require commitment to preoperative therapy, which may require more significant time and financial commitments than a single-stage curative treatment. This study aims to evaluate disparities in social determinants of health regarding receipt of OP compared to major oncologic resection for high-risk stage I rectal cancer. Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried to analyze all patients with high-risk stage 1 rectal cancer between 2004-2021. High-risk stage 1 disease was defined as either T2 or T1 tumors with lymphovascular invasion, or grade 3 or 4 differentiation. Covariates in patients who underwent OP, defined as chemoradiation therapy without oncologic resection or local excision, were compared to those who underwent major oncologic resection. Additional variables included age, sex, race, great circle distance, insurance status, education, facility type, income, rurality, and comorbidity index. Univariate and multivariate analyses were utilized to compare association of covariates to OP. Results: Of the 63,762 patients included, 9,261 (14.5%) underwent OP. Increased rates of OP were seen with increasing age (OR 1.029, p<0.0001), female sex (OR 1.147, p<0.0001), higher education level (OR 1.179, p=0.0034), rurality (OR 1.273, p=0.0003) and lower income (OR 0.757 for income >74K, p <0.0001). Interestingly, OP was more frequently utilized at community cancer centers in comparison to comprehensive cancer centers (OR 0.78, p<0.0001) and academic centers (OR 0.842, p=0.0021). Race, insurance status, distance to treatment, and comorbidity index were not statistically significant predictors of OP. Of note, those who underwent OP had a considerable delay in time to first treatment, with median time to treatment of 36 days in comparison to 13 days for oncologic resection. Conclusions: Socioeconomic and demographic variables are associated with receipt of OP. While plausible that a treatment strategy that requires frequent office visits, travel expenses, and time off from work may preclude OP, lower income and rurality had increased odds of OP. Future aims should be directed to identifying root causes of disparities in treatment and their clinical consequences.