Language Barriers Linked to Cancer Treatment Delays

Texas registry data point to neighborhood-level vulnerability as a possible target for improving timely colorectal cancer care.

To investigate the association between language barriers and treatment delays in early age-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) patients.

Patients with EOCRC were more likely to be Hispanic and present with metastatic disease compared to older patients.
Despite more advanced disease, EOCRC patients had better overall survival than average age-onset patients.
Treatment delays were associated with a 29% higher hazard of death across the colorectal cancer cohort.
Language barriers and minority status were linked to treatment delays, with a 1.45 times higher odds of delay in vulnerable neighborhoods.

Observational study design limits causal inference and is subject to unmeasured confounding.
Lack of detailed data on comorbidities affecting treatment decisions and survival.
Study did not capture diagnostic delays prior to tissue diagnosis.