Wildfire disruptions and cancer care: A multi-institutional study of radiotherapy treatment adherence in Northern California
This initial investigation demonstrates a statistically significant trend towards higher non-adherence to radiotherapy visits during wildfires. This is the first multi-institutional study to investigate the impact of wildfires exposure on radiotherapy adherence and to quantify the associated financial impact. Our findings highlight the emerging intersection of climate change and cancer care delivery, emphasizing the need for health system resilience in the face of environmental threats.
Authors
- John Boscardin
- Nigel Pitts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6184-4213)
- Katie Lichter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4136-6490)
- Anna K. Paulsson
- Y. Medhat
- Christopher J. Walsh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4181-6722)
- Alon Witztum
- Join Y. Luh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1161-6495)
- Ruža Sabol
- Sue S. Yom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0779-7476)
- Claire Baniel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1988-8607)
- Cyril Baiyee
- Laszlo Tibor Zalavari
- David Meltzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6728-8729)
- S. Densley
- A. Krishna
Institutions
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (US)
- Tufts Medical Center (US)
- Columbus State Community College (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Atlantic University College (PR)
- St. Joseph Hospital (US)
- Northern California Research (US)
- Stanford Health Care (US)
- Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center (US)
- St. Joseph Health System (US)
- Florida Atlantic University (US)
- University of Colorado Denver (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Climate Change and Health
- Published
- 2025-10-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2025.100530
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 and healthcare impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00