Journal Article

Colorectal Cancer Care Quality in a Developing Country: Insights from a Comparison of Teaching and Non-teaching Hospitals in Iran

Rouhollahi, Mohammad Reza, Nemati, Saeed, Azmoudeh Ardalan, Farid, Shirkhoda, Mohammad, Zendehdel, Kazem, Yahyazadeh, Seyed Hossein, Mahmoodzadeh, Habibollah, Muhammadnejad, Ahad, Mohagheghi, Mohammad Ali, Aghili, Mahdi, Abdi, Sepideh, Nikoo, Maedeh Zokaei, Mirzania, Mehrzad

2025

Overview

Our study represents the first effort in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to identify disparities in the quality of colorectal cancer (CRC) care in Iran. We established a collaborative registry program for non-metastatic CRC patients to evaluate survival rates between teaching cancer centers (TCCs) and a high-volume, non-teaching, non-cancer center (NTNC). The study included a diverse patient population and considered various factors such as cancer stage, margin involvement, adherence to guidelines for adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatments, emergency surgeries, socioeconomic status, and risk of surgery. We utilized a multivariate Cox regression model and the targeted maximum likelihood estimator (TMLE) to analyze survival disparities in colorectal cancer between TCCs and the NTNC. We recruited 668 CRC patients, including 320 with colon cancer and 298 with rectal cancer. Patients who underwent surgery at teaching cancer centers (TCCs) displayed significantly higher quality of care and better outcomes than those treated at the non-teaching, non-cancer center (NTNC). The adjusted hazard ratios (HR) were 1.97 (95% CI 1.21-3.21) for colon cancer and 1.54 (95% CI 1.01-2.55) for rectal cancer. Additionally, we observed significant causal mortality risk ratios (RR) based on hospital type for overall colorectal cancer (RR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.12-1.81) and specifically for colon (RR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.04-2.11) and rectum cancer (RR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.01-2.02). The survival disparities in colon and rectal cancers between TCCs and NTNCs highlight a significant gap in CRC care in Iran. It is essential to expand this study nationally and implement the knowledge and experiences from TCCs in other hospitals to improve the quality of care and enhance patient outcomes.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adjuvant treatment / Adult / Aged / Cancer / Care and treatment / Colon / Colon cancer / Colorectal cancer / Colorectal carcinoma / Colorectal Neoplasms - mortality / Colorectal Neoplasms - surgery / Colorectal Neoplasms - therapy / Comparative analysis / Decision making / Developing Countries / Development and progression / Diagnosis / Evidence-based medicine / Female / Health care facilities / Health risks / Hospitals / Hospitals, Teaching - statistics & numerical data / Humans / Iran - epidemiology / LDCs / Male / Maximum likelihood estimators / Medical care / Metastases / Metastasis / Methods / Middle Aged / Mortality / Mortality risk / Oncology, Experimental / Patients / Proportional Hazards Models / Quality management / Quality of Health Care / Rectum / Registries / Regression models / Socioeconomics / Surgery / Surgical outcomes / Survival