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Patterns of care for non‐small cell lung cancer patients in Belgium: A population‐based study
Author(s) -
Verleye L.,
De Gendt C.,
Vrijens F.,
Schillemans V.,
Camberlin C.,
Silversmit G.,
Stordeur S.,
Van Eycken E.,
Dubois C.,
Robays J.,
Wauters I.,
Van Meerbeeck J. P.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.12747
Subject(s) - medicine , stage (stratigraphy) , lung cancer , radiation therapy , cancer registry , population , systemic therapy , cancer , chemotherapy , oncology , breast cancer , paleontology , environmental health , biology
Guidelines recommend surgery for Stage I‐ II , chemoradiation for Stage III and systemic therapy for Stage IV non‐small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC ). However, patient related factors and patient preferences influence treatment decisions. We investigated patterns of care for Belgian NSCLC patients in 2010‐2011, based on population‐based data from the Belgian Cancer Registry and administrative databases. The relationship between patient characteristics, institutional diagnostic volume, type of treatment and survival was investigated. Overall, 20.8% of patients received no oncological treatment. 59% and 22.1% of Stage I‐ II patients received primary surgery or (chemo)radiation respectively. 34% of Stage III patients received chemoradiation and 17% of Stage IIIA patients had surgery. 70% of Stage IV patients received chemotherapy or targeted therapy. Moderate variability between centres was observed. For Stage IV , systemic therapy was less frequently used in higher volume centres and 1‐year survival was lower in centres that had ≥ 50 new patients yearly. Although not all NSCLC patients received treatment as ideally recommended by guidelines, these results do not necessarily represent poor quality of care as patient characteristics and preferences need to be taken into account. Treatment options targeted towards patients with co‐morbidity or unfit patients is warranted to improve outcomes of all NSCLC patients.