Systemic Treatment Wait Times

Cancer Care Ontario reports on systemic treatment wait times at each of the regional cancer centres that offer systemic treatment services and for each type of cancer.

We provide this information to help you and your physician decide whether it is appropriate for you to be referred to a treatment facility outside your area or Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). If it is appropriate, your physician will contact the treatment centre to determine whether you can be accommodated there and to make the necessary arrangements. You are responsible for all travel and accommodation expenses incurred, whether you receive treatment within our outside of your LHIN.

Wait Time Trend
Median Wait Times – Referral to Treatment
Wait Times by Target (14 days) – Referral to Consult

Systemic Treatment Wait Time Trend in Ontario

Between 2006 and 2007, the number of patients receiving systemic treatment in Ontario grew to 13,149 from 12,763, an increase of 3%. This rising demand has not translated into longer wait times for chemotherapy. Median wait times have remained stable since 2003, ranging from 25 to 38 days in 2007 across Ontario’s cancer centres. Half of all systemic treatment patients in 2007 waited 33 or fewer days to start their treatment.

There is some variation in systemic treatment wait times by cancer type. In 2007, half of all systemic treatment patients waited 37 or fewer days for breast cancer treatment, 35 or fewer days for gastrointestinal cancer, 27 or fewer days for haematological cancer, and 27 or fewer days for lung cancer. Patients with breast and gastrointestinal cancers who were waiting the longest are now getting treatment more quickly. And overall wait times for patients who were waiting the longest have decreased to 67 days in 2007 from 77 days in 2003.

Systemic Treatment Median Wait Times

Cancer Care Ontario reports median wait times for systemic treatment as a three month rolling median for each regional cancer centre at hospitals across the province. Wait times are updated monthly.

Median Time: The point at which one half of the patients have started treatment, and the other half are still waiting.
Referral to Treatment: The interval from the receipt of a new referral at the cancer centre to the time that patient receives his/her first systemic treatment.

To view the wait time information, click on the type of cancer you are interested in:

• All disease sites combined
• Breast
• Central Nervous System (e.g., brain, spinal cord)
• Gastrointestinal (e.g., colon, rectum, stomach)
• Genitourinary (e.g., bladder, prostate, testes)
• Gynecologic (e.g., uterus, ovary, cervix)
• Haematology (e.g., leukemia, lymphoma)
• Head and Neck (e.g., larynx, tongue)
• Lung
• Sarcoma (e.g., bone, soft tissue)
• Skin (e.g., melanoma, non-melanoma)
• Other

Systemic Treatment Wait Times by Target (14 days) - Referral to Consult

Cancer Care Ontario reports systemic treatment wait times for the interval referral to consult as the percentage of patients seen within the target of 14 days for Ontario overall, by regional cancer centre and by type of cancer. Wait times are updated monthly.

Referral to Consult: The time between a referral to a specialist to the time that specialist consults with the patient

Systemic Treatment Wait Times, Referral to Consult, Ontario

Click here for chart

Systemic Treatment Wait Times by Type of Cancer, Referral to Consult

• All disease sites combined
• Breast
• Central Nervous System (e.g., brain, spinal cord)
• Gastrointestinal (e.g., colon, rectum, stomach)
• Genitourinary (e.g., bladder, prostate, testes)
• Gynecologic (e.g., uterus, ovary, cervix)
• Haematology (e.g., leukemia, lymphoma)
• Head and Neck (e.g., larynx, tongue)
• Lung
• Sarcoma (e.g., bone, soft tissue)
• Skin (e.g., melanoma, non-melanoma)
• Other (e.g., eye, thyroid)

The Referral to Treatment interval excludes patients who have had radiation treatment and waits longer than 20 weeks.

The Referral to Consult interval includes all new systemic patients seen in that time period. Data are available from April 2008 onward.