Treatment decisions and survival for people with small-cell lung cancer

Powell, H.A.; Tata, L.J.; Baldwin, D.R.; Potter, V.A.; Stanley, R.A.; Khakwani, A.; Hubbard, R.B.

Abstract

Background: Chemotherapy improves survival for many patients with SCLC, and hence it is important to understand variations in practice and outcomes for this treatment strategy.

Methods: We used the National Lung Cancer Audit and Hospital Episodes Statistics to determine the proportion of patients who received chemotherapy for SCLC, and assess the effects of patient and organisational factors on the odds of receiving chemotherapy and of completing four cycles. We calculated median survival and used Cox regression to determine factors that predicted survival.

Results: Of 15 091 cases of SCLC, 70% received at least one cycle of chemotherapy. More deprived people were less likely to receive chemotherapy, but patients were more likely to receive chemotherapy, and to complete Xfour cycles, if they were referred to the lung cancer team by their GP. Median survival for those treated with chemotherapy was 12.9 months for limited and 7.3 months for extensive stage disease.

Conclusions: The Linked NLCA and HES data provide real-life measures of survival in people treated with chemotherapy and
show how this is influenced by patient and tumour characteristics. These data show the characteristics of patients who are less likely to complete a full course of treatment, an adverse predictor of survival.

Citation

Powell, H., Tata, L., Baldwin, D., Potter, V., Stanley, R., Khakwani, A., & Hubbard, R. (in press). Treatment decisions and survival for people with small-cell lung cancer. British Journal of Cancer, 110(4), https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2013.812

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 6, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Jan 7, 2014
• Deposit Date: Oct 24, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 24, 2016
• Journal: British Journal of Cancer
• Print ISSN: 0007-0920
• Electronic ISSN: 1532-1827
• Publisher: Cancer Research UK
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 110
• Issue: 4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2013.812
• Keywords: lung neoplasm; small cell; survival; chemotherapy; radiotherapy
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/722163
• Publisher URL: http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v110/n4/full/bjc2013812a.html
• Related Public URLs: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2013.812
• Additional Information: Supplementary information available for this article at http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v110/n4/suppinfo/bjc2013812s1.html
• Contract Date: Oct 24, 2016