Table 3. Meta-analysis results from studies reporting on the treatment interval (TI).

		TI All studies					TI Studies from high-income countries					TI Studies from lower-income countries					TI Difference
Body location/system	Cancer site	k	N	med	LLCI	ULCI	k	N	med	LLCI	ULCI	k	N	med	LLCI	ULCI	Diff	LLCI	ULCI	p
Breast	All breast*	99	1,711,613	29	27	31	70	1,700,440	30	27	32	29	11,173	28	22	40	1	−5	8	0.857
	Breast not PA-associated	95	1,711,380	30	27	32	66	1,700,207	31	27	32	29	11,173	28	22	40	2	−6	8	0.994
	Breast PA-associated	4	233	20	19	24	4	233	20	19	24	0
Digestive/gastrointestinal	All digestive/gastrointestinal	105	1,126,671	23	20	31	95	1,046,841	24	20	32	10	79,830	20	13	37	−3	−15	7	0.512
	All upper gastrointestinal**	19	94,830	40	22	51	18	94,706	41	21	54	1	124	28			−13	−137	14	0.648
	Anal	11	12,546	33	32	34	11	12,546	33	32	34	0
	Colon	19	170,171	16	7	23	18	131,038	15	7	23	1	39,133	21			8	−43	17	0.645
	Colorectal	68	1,003,355	18	14	22	61	923,732	18	14	23	7	79,623	19	10	30	−2	−13	8	0.809
	Esophageal	6	9,870	44	30	63	5	9,746	45	35	66	1	124	28			−16	−40	−5	0.242
	Gastric	7	15,940	32	16	89	5	15,857	32	19	65	2	83	82	14	150	38	−58	133	1.000
	Liver	3	15,495	50	40	51	3	15,495	50	40	51	0
	Pancreatic	8	69,369	20	15	28	8	69,369	20	15	28	0
	Rectal	9	68,805	26	18	49	6	28,623	33	19	48	3	40,182	22	11	60	−5	−44	44	0.795
	Stomach	0					0					0
Genitourinary	All genitourinary	49	1,370,236	57	45	66	48	1,370,202	59	45	67	1	34	34			−24	−146	34	0.457
	Bladder	11	26,632	50	5	65	11	26,632	50	5	65	0
	Penile	1	13,283	27			1	13,283	27			0
	Prostate	27	1,060,169	75	61	87	27	1,060,169	75	61	87	0
	Renal	9	269,965	0	0	22	8	269,931	0	0	2	1	34	34			34	10	34	0.250
	Testicular	0					0					0
	Upper urinary	1	187	45			1	187	45			0
Gynecological	All gynecological	33	136,330	46	38	54	22	130,833	42	34	48	11	5,497	69	28	107	28	11	58	0.015
	Cervical	13	6,394	69	45	108	4	1,002	43	11	117	9	5,392	71	63	109	29	−48	76	0.316
	Endometrial	5	120,408	38	17	47	4	120,346	41	16	48	1	62	24			−19	−24	9	0.724
	Ovarian	3	145	13	1	17	2	102	7	1	13	1	43	17			10	4	16	0.540
	Uterine	11	9,369	46	37	53	11	9,369	46	37	53	0
	Vulvar	1	14	18			1	14	18			0
Head and neck	All head and neck	77	126,777	33	32	37	69	125,693	33	32	37	8	1,084	41	20	65	2	−11	25	0.764
	Hypopharyngeal	3	4,984	32	27	37	3	4,984	32	27	37	0
	Laryngeal	8	35,318	26	22	42	6	34,720	26	23	38	2	598	37	18	56	5	−25	34	1.000
	Nasopharyngeal	1	101	39			1	101	39			0
	Oral	19	29,047	30	23	53	16	28,846	30	23	53	3	201	55	20	103	25	−29	76	0.342
	Oropharyngeal	8	14,459	34	29	58	8	14,459	34	29	58	0
	Thyroid	4	6,256	165	67	502	4	6,256	165	67	502	0
Hematological	All hematological	18	18,764	22	8	32	17	18,735	21	8	28	1	29	37			16	−2,063	35	0.385
	Leukemia	3	4,179	4	3	8	3	4,179	4	3	8	0
	Lymphoma	11	14,452	22	12	29	11	14,452	22	12	29	0
	Myeloma	1	53	2			1	53	2			0
Musculoskeletal	Sarcoma	11	13,352	21	21	22	10	13,329	21	21	22	1	23	23			2	−3	3	0.252
Neurologic/brain	Neurologic/brain	2	65	26	25	26	0					2	65	26	255	26
Respiratory/thoracic	Lung	60	557,374	32	27	35	53	546,499	33	30	42	7	10,875	20	6	25	−21	−36	−9	0.002
Skin	Melanoma	9	105,326	31	28	45	7	105,255	30	24	39	2	71	63	32	95	31	−20	82	0.188
	Non-melanoma	0					0					0
Unknown	Unknown primary	0					0					0

k = number of studies/estimates joined in meta-analysis; N = number of patients; med = pooled median (in days); LLCI and ULCI = lower-level and upper-level confidence interval, respectively; Diff = difference between lower- and high-income countries based on Wilcoxon rank sum test; PA-associated = pregnancy-associated.

When k = 1, the median from the single located study is reported.

*Breast cancer only includes female breast cancer.

**Upper-gastrointestinal cancers include esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, small bowel cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and cancers of the biliary system.