Table 1.
Characteristics of Patients Receiving Palliative Radiotherapy (PRT) for Esophageal or Gastric Cancer During the Study Period (2007-2016) (n = 2500).
| Characteristics | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Age | |
| ≤40 | 50 (2.0%) |
| 41 to 50 | 166 (6.6%) |
| 51 to 60 | 442 (17.7%) |
| 61 to 70 | 608 (24.3%) |
| ≥71 | 1234 (49.4%) |
| mean (SD) | 69.5 (13.4) |
| median (IQR) | 70 (60-80) |
| Sex | |
| Male | 1873 (74.9%) |
| Female | 627 (25.1%) |
| Charlson comorbidity index* | |
| 0 | 927 (56.4%) |
| 1 | 385 (23.4%) |
| ≥ 2 | 332 (20.2%) |
| Patient location | |
| Rural | 413 (16.6%) |
| Urban | 2075 (83.4%) |
| Socioeconomic status quintile | |
| 1 (lowest) | 448 (18.0%) |
| 2 | 572 (23.0%) |
| 3 | 572 (23.0%) |
| 4 | 493 (19.8%) |
| 5 (highest) | 405 (16.3%) |
| Distance to nearest hospital offering radiotherapy services | |
| ≤ 10 kms | 933 (37.5%) |
| 11 to 50 kms | 998 (40.1%) |
| > 50 kms | 559 (22.4%) |
| Cancer site | |
| Esophageal | 1047 (41.9%) |
| Gastric | 1453 (58.1%) |
| Receipt of chemotherapy | |
| Systemic chemotherapy | 665 (26.6%) |
| Chemotherapy concurrent with radiation | 268 (10.7%) |
| No chemotherapy | 1567 (62.7%) |
| Time from cancer diagnosis to start of palliative radiotherapy | |
| 3 months | 1881 (75.2%) |
| >3 to 6 months | 244 (9.8%) |
| >6 to 12 months | 229 (9.2%) |
| >12 to 24 months | 113 (4.5%) |
| >24 months | 33 (1.3%) |
*Performed on subset of cohort for which full comorbidity information available (n = 1644).
SD – standard deviation.
IQR – interquartile range.