Rural Cancer Patients Do Simply as Nicely When Having Surgery Near Residence

CHICAGO — Adults residing in rural communities usually journey lengthy distances when searching for remedy for most cancers, however distant journey could not at all times be essential to obtain high-quality surgical care, in keeping with a new analysis revealed within the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS).

The evaluation, targeted on adults with colon or lung most cancers residing in rural communities, discovered that sufferers who underwent surgical procedure for his or her most cancers nearer to their dwelling had related outcomes to those that traveled to extra distant city amenities.

The findings present promising preliminary proof that advanced surgical procedure for sure cancers might be carried out safely and with simply nearly as good outcomes at smaller group hospitals, mentioned first creator Michael E. Egger, MD, FACS, MPH, an affiliate professor of surgical procedure on the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky, and previous president of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Kentucky Chapter.

“Cancer patients in rural areas often have a harder time accessing high-quality, multidisciplinary cancer care,” he mentioned. “But traveling long distances for surgery is not practical for all patients, nor is it sustainable for high-volume urban facilities already at capacity. To better address health care disparities in rural communities, we wanted to understand where rural cancer patients seek surgical care and whether receiving it locally or farther away affected their outcomes.”

Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) knowledge, Dr. Egger and his crew analyzed the surgical outcomes of 10,383 rural sufferers with colon most cancers and 6,006 with lung most cancers. Researchers chosen lung and colon cancers as a result of they’re widespread cancers usually handled surgically and with different approaches.

Patients have been aged 65 or older, enrolled in Medicare, and resided in a rural space, outlined as any space outdoors a Metropolitan Statistical Area as decided by ZIP code. Researchers analyzed knowledge from sufferers with Stages 1-3 cancers, excluding Stage 0 (pre-cancer) and Stage 4 cancers, to higher account for surgical complexity.

Study Results

• A big proportion of sufferers with lung most cancers traveled for his or her surgical procedure, however present process care nearer to dwelling was additionally widespread: More than half (54%) of colon most cancers sufferers and 1 / 4 of lung most cancers sufferers underwent surgical procedure for his or her most cancers at an area hospital or most cancers facility.
• Similar demographics: Patients had related demographics, stage of most cancers, well being standing, and complexity of surgical procedure wanted. A barely greater variety of sufferers handled at rural amenities have been eligible for Medicaid (10% vs. 8%).
• Reassuring surgical outcomes for each teams: Patients had related surgical outcomes and mortality charges whether or not they have been handled at a rural or city facility. Mortality charges at 90 days have been about 5% for lung most cancers sufferers and about 7% for colon most cancers sufferers. Hospital readmission charges have been roughly 10% for lung most cancers sufferers and 14% for colon most cancers sufferers.
• Patients handled at city amenities traveled farther and longer: Compared with native care, remedy at city amenities required considerably extra journey for rural sufferers. Colon most cancers sufferers traveled about 3 times farther (about 33 extra miles, 35 extra minutes), whereas lung most cancers sufferers traveled almost twice as far (about 26 extra miles, 23 extra minutes).

Dr. Egger cautioned that though some sufferers in rural communities should still have to journey for most cancers remedy — both by necessity or choice — this research supplies preliminary proof that advanced surgical care might be delivered efficiently at native hospitals.

“Long travel times and costs associated with travel can be a significant burden for many cancer patients living in rural communities,” he mentioned. “As hospital systems regionalize care, it is going to be important to determine which patients can receive care more locally and who may benefit from receiving more centralized care.”

The research is proscribed to Medicare-eligible enrollees (65 years and older) and to states that contribute to SEER, which will not be consultant of all sufferers recognized with lung or colon most cancers, Dr. Egger added. The research additionally didn’t account for why sufferers have been handled at rural or city amenities — for instance, whether or not this was because of affected person choice or referral patterns.

As a part of a long-term undertaking supported by the American Cancer Society, the subsequent section of analysis will study the distinctive traits of rural and concrete amenities that achieved sturdy affected person outcomes, and can study complete most cancers care past the quick postoperative interval.

“Surgery is just one important part of a cancer patient’s continuum of care, which may also include chemotherapy, radiation treatment, or other therapies,” Dr. Egger mentioned. “Disparities in cancer treatment may be caused by delays in screening or treatment after surgery. Some of our future research will examine what we can learn from high-performing facilities to improve cancer care for rural patients.”

Co-authors are Tyler Jones, MS; Quinn Piamonte, MD; Charlie H. Zhang, PhD; Seyed Karimi, PhD; Bert B. Little, PhD; Matthew P. Fox, MD; Sandra L. Kavalukas, MD, FACS; Kelly M. McMasters, MD, PhD, FACS; and Maiying Kong, PhD.

This research is revealed as an article in press on the JACS web site.

Research was offered on the 137th Annual Meeting of the Southern Surgical Association in Hot Springs, Virginia, December 7-10, 2025.

Funding: Dr. Egger was supported by a Clinician Scientist Development Grant, CSDG-22-125-01-HOPS, Grant DOI #: from the American Cancer Society. Dr. Kong was supported by an NIH Clinical and Translational Research Developmental grant (P20GM155899).

Citation: Egger M, Jones T, Piamonte Q, et al. Rural-dwelling sufferers can safely endure lung and colon most cancers surgical procedure at their native rural hospital with good perioperative outcomes. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 2026. DOI: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000001781