Practice referral patterns and outcomes in patients with primary retroperitoneal sarcoma in British Columbia.

Background: We examined practice referral patterns for primary retroperitoneal sarcoma (PRS) in British Columbia (BC) and associations between the timing of referral to tertiary care and patient outcomes.

Methods: Using ICD-10 coding, the Cancer Agency Information System was used to identify patients with PRS from 2000 to 2009 who had been referred to tertiary care and had undergone a surgical resection.

Results: Eighty-two patients were included. Those referred before surgery were significantly more likely to receive a complete resection (P = .0002) and adjuvant radiation (P = .0000) compared with patients referred after surgery. Referral before surgery was associated with a significantly increased overall (P = .0619) and recurrence-free (P = .0400) survival; however, in the multivariate model this was not significant.

Conclusions: Referral before surgery is associated with higher rates of complete resection and the use of adjuvant radiation; furthermore, it is associated with prolonged survival in the univariate but not in the multivariate model.