Association Between Travel Distance and Choice of Treatment for Prostate Cancer: Does Geography Reduce Patient Choice?

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether the distance between a prostate cancer patient's home and treatment facility was related to the choice of treatment received among those opting for surgery or radiation.

Methods and materials: We identified 222,804 patients diagnosed with National Comprehensive Cancer Network low-, intermediate-, or high-risk N0M0 prostate cancer and treated with local therapy (surgery or radiation alone, with or without hormone therapy) using the National Cancer Database. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine whether the choice of radiation therapy vs radical prostatectomy varied by distance among patients living in rural and urban areas. Analyses were adjusted for geographic location within the United States, age, race, Charlson/Deyo comorbidity score, year of diagnosis, income quartile, education quartile, Gleason score, prostate-specific antigen level, and T stage.

Results: Patients living in urban or rural areas were less likely to receive radiation compared with surgery if they lived farther from the treatment facility. Among urban patients living ≤5 miles from the treatment facility, 53.3% received radiation, compared with 47.0%, 43.6%, and 33.8% of those living 5 to 10, 10 to 15, or >15 miles away, respectively (P<.001 in all cases). Similarly, rural patients were less likely to receive radiation the farther they lived from the treatment facility (≤25 miles: 62.3%; 25-50 miles: 55.5%; 50-75 miles: 38.4%; >75 miles: 23.8%; P<.05 in all cases). These trends were also present when each risk group was analyzed separately.

Conclusion: Patients with prostate cancer in both urban and rural settings were less likely to receive radiation therapy rather than surgery the farther away they lived from a treatment center. These findings raise the possibility that the geographic availability of radiation treatment centers may be an important determinant of whether patients are able to choose radiation rather than surgery for localized prostate cancer.