Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29511056›Full record

ArticleThorax2018

Geographical variations in the use of cancer treatments are associated with survival of lung cancer patients.

Henrik Møller, Victoria H Coupland, Daniela Tataru, Michael D Peake, Anders Mellemgaard, Thomas Round, David R Baldwin, Matthew E J Callister, Erik Jakobsen, Peter Vedsted and 2 more

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Thorax, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.9field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Transforming post pandemic cancer services.British journal of cancer · 2024
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
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  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Patient experiences of the urgent cancer referral pathway-Can the NHS do better? Semi-structured interviews with patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020
    Article
  12. Association between use of urgent suspected cancer referral and mortality and stage at diagnosis: a 5-year national cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020
    Article
  13. Article
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  15. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 8 institutions in 2 countries.

Henrik MøllerSchool of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Victoria H CouplandNational Cancer Registration and Analysis Service, Public Health England, London, UK.
Daniela TataruNational Cancer Registration and Analysis Service, Public Health England, London, UK.
Michael D PeakeNational Cancer Registration and Analysis Service, Public Health England, London, UK.
Anders MellemgaardDepartment of Oncology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Herlev, Denmark.
Thomas RoundSchool of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
David R BaldwinDivision of Respiratory Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8410-7160
Matthew E J CallisterDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, St James's University Hospital, Leeds, UK.
Erik JakobsenDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
Peter VedstedDepartment of Public Health, Research Centre for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care (CaP), Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Richard SullivanSchool of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
James SpicerSchool of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
King's College London · GBPublic Health England · GBAarhus University · DKOdense University Hospital · DKSt James's University Hospital · GBUniversity of Copenhagen · DKUniversity of Leicester · GBUniversity of Nottingham · GB

Funding

Department of Health DRF-2016-09-054
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionLung cancer outcomes in England are inferior to comparable countries. Patient or disease characteristics, healthcare-seeking behaviour, diagnostic pathways, and oncology service provision may contribute. We aimed to quantify associations between geographic variations in treatment and survival of patients in England.

methodsWe retrieved detailed cancer registration data to analyse the variation in survival of 176,225 lung cancer patients, diagnosed 2010-2014. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression to investigate survival in the two-year period following diagnosis.

resultsSurvival improved over the period studied. The use of active treatment varied between geographical areas, with inter-quintile ranges of 9%-17% for surgical resection, 4%-13% for radical radiotherapy, and 22%-35% for chemotherapy. At 2 years, there were 188 potentially avoidable deaths annually for surgical resection, and 373 for radical radiotherapy, if all treated proportions were the same as in the highest quintiles. At the 6 month time-point, 318 deaths per year could be postponed if chemotherapy use for all patients was as in the highest quintile. The results were robust to statistical adjustments for age, sex, socio-economic status, performance status and co-morbidity.

conclusionThe extent of use of different treatment modalities varies between geographical areas in England. These variations are not attributable to measurable patient and tumour characteristics, and more likely reflect differences in clinical management between local multi-disciplinary teams. The data suggest improvement over time, but there is potential for further survival gains if the use of active treatments in all areas could be increased towards the highest current regional rates.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overComorbidityEnglandFemaleHumansLung NeoplasmsMaleMiddle AgedPractice Patterns, Physicians'RegistriesSurvival Ratelung cancerlung cancer chemotherapyradiotherapysurgerysurvival

Identifiers

PMID29511056
PMCPMC5969334
OpenAlexW2792661551

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.