Table 1.

Definitions of oncologists’ reasons for not recommending chemotherapy

Reasons oncologists did not recommend adjuvant chemotherapy	Definition
Medical complications of surgery	Any medical incident during or just following surgery (e.g. myocardial infarction, stroke)
Surgical complications of surgery	Any surgery related complication (e.g. delayed wound healing, wound infection, abscess)
Co-morbidities	A medical condition or chronic disease preceding the onset of cancer and perceived by oncologist as a contraindication for chemotherapy (e.g. coronary heart disease, heart failure, kidney or liver failure)
Frailty/Performance status	Generalized weakness or poor physical performance status
Pharmacological concern	Potential drug-drug interaction between the adjuvant chemotherapeutic regimens and other drugs a patient is using for a chronic or incidental medical condition. Potential complication or adverse event of chemotherapy in a susceptible patient (e.g. vasospasm in a patient susceptible to coronary heart disease)
No social network or support	Lack of social, emotional, or physical support
Age	Patient age was the reason or one of the reasons for not recommending chemotherapy
Disease progression	Progression of the cancer to stage IV by the time the patient had a consultation with the oncologist and/or prior to receiving post-surgical treatment
Other	Reasons stated other than those listed above (e.g. non-conclusive staging at the time of consult)
Unclear	Reason(s) for not recommending chemotherapy are vague and not clearly stated