Cancer treatment delays surge across US as doctor warns system ‘needs fixing immediately’

Wait times between a cancer diagnosis and the start of treatment grew by nearly two weeks over the past decade in the U.S., according to a recent study published in JAMA Surgery. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed national data from more than two million patients diagnosed between January 2012 and December 2023. The study tracked adults with early to locally advanced stages of six common cancers (breast, colon , lung, pancreatic