Retrospective Cohort Study on the Impact of Travel Distance on Late-Stage Oral Cancer Treatment and Outcomes: an NCDB Analysis

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines provide evidence-based consensus for optimal individual site- and stage-specific treatments. This is a cohort study of 11,121 late-stage oral cancer patients in the National Cancer Database from 2010 to 2016. We hypothesized that patient travel distance may affect treatment choices and impact outcome. We split travel distance (miles) into quartiles (D1–4) and assessed treatment choices, type of facility, and survival outcome in relation to distance traveled. Univariate and multivariate analyses addressed contributions of specific variables. White patients were most likely to travel farthest (D4) for treatment compared to Black patients (D1). Urban area patients traveled shorter distances than those from rural areas. Greater travel distance was associated with patients undergoing surgical-based therapies and treatment at academic centers. Patients in D1 had the lowest median survival of all distance quartiles. Surgery-based multimodality treatment (surgery and radiation) had a median survival significantly greater than for non-surgical therapy. Several factors including travel distance and treatment facility were associated with survival outcomes for late-stage oral cavity cancers. Consideration of these factors may help improve the outcome for this patient population.