Marital status significantly impacts survival rates for patients with colorectal cancer, according to a new Fox Chase Cancer Center study that was presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 3628). Married individuals were found to have better survival rates than single or separated and divorced or widowed individuals.
“Research has shown that people who are by themselves face a double burden: They are typically diagnosed at later stages and experience worse treatment outcomes,” said Namrata Vijayvergia, MD, Assistant Chief of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at Fox Chase and senior author on the study. “Our findings indicate that the pattern has persisted over time, which suggests the need for more targeted outreach and screening approaches for unmarried individuals.”
Lisa Liu, MD, who presented the results of the study, worked on it under the mentorship of Dr. Vijayvergia. Dr. Liu is now an internal medicine resident at George Washington University.
The research team analyzed data on colorectal cancer cases diagnosed between 2000 and 2021 gleaned from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. They stratified patients by marital status into three groups—married, single, and separated/divorced/widowed—and also compared data across two time periods, 2000 to 2010 and 2011 to 2021. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare survival outcomes, and disease severity was classified into three stages: localized, regional, and distant.
The researchers found that overall survival improved across all marital groups between the 2000 to 2010 and 2011 to 2021 time periods, likely due to advances in cancer treatments and improved screening. However, the disparity between married and unmarried individuals persisted. In both periods, results showed that married individuals had the highest 5-year overall survival rate (61.2% and 63.1%, respectively), followed by single individuals (51.1%, 54.5%), and then separated/divorced/widowed individuals (43.8%, 45.7%).
“We see in clinical practice that patients with partners demonstrate higher treatment compliance, have better appointment attendance, and are more likely to report side effects promptly, all factors that influence outcomes,” said Dr. Vijayvergia.
The data also showed that married individuals were more commonly diagnosed with localized, earlier-stage cancer compared with the other two groups. Combined with their higher survival rates, this finding suggests that earlier detection may be key to better colorectal cancer outcomes.
“These results suggest we may need to challenge the status quo in our screening approaches,” Dr. Vijayvergia said. “Developing specialized screening efforts and targeted outreach programs for single populations could help close this gap.”
Disclosure: For disclosures of the study authors, visit coi.asco.org.
