AI Article Synopsis
- The study explored the impact of timely treatment on survival rates for lung cancer patients in Norway, comparing those treated within set timeframes to those who were not.
- The review of 439 patients revealed significant variations in timely treatment across different treatment categories and highlighted that those starting treatment on time had shorter median overall survival rates.
- The findings suggest that receiving treatment promptly does not guarantee better survival outcomes, challenging the belief that speed of treatment is always beneficial.
Article Abstract
Background: Time-to-treatment is defined as a quality indicator for cancer care but is not well documented. We investigated whether meeting Norwegian timeframes of 35/42 days from referral until start of chemotherapy or surgery/radiotherapy for lung cancer was associated with survival.
Patients And Methods: The medical records of 439 lung cancer patients at a regional cancer center were reviewed and categorized according to treatment: (i) surgery; ii) radical radiotherapy; iii) stereotactic radiotherapy; iv) palliative treatment, no cancer symptoms; v) palliative treatment with severe cancer symptoms).
Results: Proportions receiving timely treatment varied significantly at 39%, 48%, 10%, 44% and 89%, respectively (p<0.001). Overall, those starting treatment on time had the shortest median overall survival (10.6 vs. 22.6 months; p<0.001). This was also the case for palliative (5.3 vs. 11.4 months) (p<0.001) but not for curative treatment (not reached vs. 38.3 months) (p=0.038).
Conclusion: Timely treatment is not necessarily associated with improved survival.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8193294 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.21873/invivo.12416 | DOI Listing |
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