OBJECTIVES: Assessment of time intervals in cancer diagnostic pathways constitute a key-input in cancer policy-making. The objective of this analysis was to assess time intervals from prostate cancer symptom recognition until treatment initiation, as well as patients’ perceptions on delays in diagnosis in Greece.

METHODS: A telephone survey, conducted from December 2018 until February 2019 with the use of a structured questionnaire provided the primary data for the analysis. Participants comprised a sample of patients with a diagnosis of localized prostate Ca after 2015, who had completed treatment. Participants were recruited through public and private hospital urology clinics and practices in Attica, Greece. We calculated the time-to-diagnosis (days from detecting an abnormal finding or a bodily change until diagnosis), time-to-treatment (days from diagnosis until treatment initiation) and total interval.

RESULTS: 67 patients participated in the survey. For the majority of patients (71.6%) seeking consultation was initiated by a symptom whereas for the 28.4% by an abnormal finding in their screening tests. Median time-to-diagnosis was 60.5 days (mean=163.00, S.D.=356.811), while median time-to-treatment was 30 days (mean=143.51, S.D.=184.851). The median total interval was 91 days (mean=211.40, S.D.=380.160). Concerning participants’ perceptions on delays in diagnosis and treatment, 41.0% replied that they could have received medical care earlier. Of those, 62.5% placed the delay primarily during the patient interval, 29.2% during the diagnosis interval and 8.3% during the treatment interval. The main reasons for those delays (multiple choice) were: not evaluating the symptoms as critical (52.0%), not being consistent with their check-up (32.0%) and physician(s) not understanding the problem (16.0%).

CONCLUSIONS: Further investigation on the determinants of patient, diagnostic and treatment intervals is essential for the formulation of health policies that aim at early diagnosis and management of prostate cancer in Greece.