Treatment and outcomes of metastatic colorectal cancer patients in public and private hospitals: results from the South Australian Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Registry

Background: Studies have reported significant differences in baseline characteristics and outcomes of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients when managed in private versus public hospitals. Aims: To compare disease, treatment and survival outcomes of patients with mCRC in public versus private hospitals in South Australia (SA). Methods: Analysis of prospectively collected data from the SA mCRC Registry. Patterns of care and outcome data according to location of care and socioeconomic status based on Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage were analysed. Results: A total of 3470 patients’ data was analysed during February 2006–January 2015. The majority (70%) of patients received treatment in public hospitals. Patients in the upper 50% for Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage score were more likely to receive treatment at a private hospital (41.2% vs 21.56%) compared to <50%. Public patients had higher burden of disease (10.49% vs 7.41%, P = 0.005). Public patients received less treatment compared to the private patients (odds ratio = 0.48 (0.38–0.61), P = 0.01) and rates of surgical resections were lower in public patients. After adjusting for the covariates, public patients survive 1.33 months (P = 0.025) shorter than private patients with follow-up time of 5 years. Patients receiving metastasectomy and more than three lines of treatment were shown to have the greatest survival benefit. Conclusion: Public patients have a higher burden of disease and in comparison are less likely to receive systemic therapy and have lower survival than patients treated in private hospitals.