Cancer Treatment Patterns Among Yukon Residents Referred to British Columbia for Care: A 13-Year Retrospective Study

TL;DR

This study examines cancer treatment patterns of Yukon residents who travel to British Columbia for care, finding that most cases are diagnosed early but some stages of treatment have long wait times.

Contribution

The study provides baseline data on cancer care delivery and wait times specific to Yukon residents referred to BC Cancer for treatment.

Findings

Approximately two-thirds of Yukon cancer patients receive care at BC Cancer.

Most cancer cases were diagnosed at an early stage, with nearly 70% of patients living in Whitehorse.

Wait times from biopsy to surgery were the longest across all tumor types compared to other Canadian studies.

Abstract

Residents of the Yukon who are diagnosed with cancer often must travel out of territory to receive cancer care, and many are seen and treated at BC Cancer in British Columbia. The purpose of our study was to describe the cancer and treatment characteristics of Yukon residents diagnosed with either breast, prostate, colon or lung cancer from 2009 to 2021. We found that approximately two-thirds of people in the Yukon diagnosed with cancer received cancer care through BC Cancer. Most cancer cases were diagnosed at an early stage and most patients lived in the capital of Whitehorse. Yukon residents in this study experienced shorter wait times in certain parts of the diagnosis and treatment pathway compared to other Canadian studies; however, some of the longest wait times were seen across all tumour groups from date of biopsy to date of surgery. Results from this study can help inform approaches to strengthen cancer service delivery in the Yukon.

Yukon residents often must travel long distances to access specialized cancer care, which may impact cancer treatment patterns. We conducted a retrospective study to characterize all adult breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancer cases from the Yukon, diagnosed from 2009 to 2021 and seen in consultation at BC Cancer. We collected data on demographics, tumour characteristics and treatment, including timepoints for cancer care. A secondary analysis of non-referred cases was conducted. There were a total of 336 breast, 270 prostate, 279 colorectal and 266 lung cancer cases diagnosed in the Yukon from 2009 to 2021, of which 298 (88.7%), 120 (44.4%), 206 (73.8%) and 204 (76.7%) cases were referred to BC Cancer, and 266 (79.2%), 118 (43.7%), 204 (73.1%) and 183 (68.8%) were included in this study, respectively. Most cases were diagnosed at an early stage (breast: 92.9%, prostate: 82.2%, colorectal: 72.1%, lung: 45.9%). Nearly 70% of cases resided in Whitehorse (Yukon’s capital), where most Yukon residents live. Compared to available published Canadian timepoints, Yukon patients had similar or shorter wait times in 13 of 22 timepoints along the pathway to diagnosis and treatment. However, time from biopsy to surgery had the longest relative wait times across all tumour groups (range: 26–60% longer). Our study provides baseline data that can help inform cancer care provision for Yukon residents.

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