SynthesisThorax2022
Association between time-to-treatment and outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Thorax, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Diagnostic accuracy of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for identifying actionable mutations in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Pooled it
- Diagnostic intervals and imaging use in lung cancer: a national real-world study in England.BMJ open respiratory research · 2026Article
- CXCL9/SPP1-polarized tumor-associated macrophages exert dual roles in regulating anti-tumor immunity in lung adenocarcinoma.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2026Article
- Article
- Pathways to lung cancer diagnosis and treatment among patients in Ethiopia: A qualitative study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Social Vulnerability and Surgical Delays for Patients with Lung Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Social Vulnerability is Associated with Significant Delays to Definitive Surgery for Stages IA to IIIA Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and Consequential Increased Rates of Pathologic Upstaging.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Utility and Implementation Barriers of a Liquid Biopsy Biomarker Test Early in the Lung Cancer Diagnostic Pathway to Improve Timeliness of Palliative Systemic Therapy.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Fast-tracked and optimised: The impact of a one-stop lung cancer clinic on patient outcomes.Future healthcare journal · 2025Article
- ASO Author Reflections: Social Vulnerability and Surgical Delay in Resectable Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- Redefining treatment interval in lung cancer surgery in the era of prehabilitation: a systematic review.Translational lung cancer research · 2025Review
- Delay of Systemic Therapy Confers a Survival Benefit in Patients with Stage IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.Cancers · 2025Article
- Improving the timeliness of care for regional lung cancer patients through the implementation of a web-based lung cancer referral pathway.Internal medicine journal · 2025Article
- Second Opinion Referrals of Cancer Patients in Japan-A Nationwide Study.Cancer science · 2025Article
- Social determinants of health and variability in treatment for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2025Article
- Diagnosis of lung cancer using salivary miRNAs expression and clinical characteristics.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Disparities in time to treatment initiation of invasive lung cancer among Black and White patients in Tennessee.PloS one · 2025Article
- Barriers to Timely Lung Cancer Care in Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Impact on Patient Outcomes.Clinical lung cancer · 2024Article
- Economic burden of early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer: an assessment of healthcare resource utilization and medical costs.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2023Article
- Impact of time-to-treatment on survival for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer in The Netherlands-a nationwide observational cohort study.Translational lung cancer research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNational targets for timely diagnosis and management of a potential cancer are driven in part by the perceived risk of disease progression during avoidable delays. However, it is unclear to what extent time-to-treatment impacts prognosis for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, with previous reviews reporting mixed or apparently paradoxical associations. This systematic review focuses on potential confounders in order to identify particular patient groups which may benefit most from timely delivery of care.
methodsMedline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched for publications between January 2012 and October 2020, correlating timeliness in secondary care pathways to patient outcomes. The protocol is registered with PROSPERO (the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews; ID 99239). Prespecified factors (demographics, performance status, histology, stage and treatment) are examined through narrative synthesis.
resultsThirty-seven articles were included. All but two were observational. Timely care was generally associated with a worse prognosis in those with advanced stage disease (6/8 studies) but with better outcomes for patients with early-stage disease treated surgically (9/12 studies). In one study, patients with squamous cell carcinoma referred for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy benefited more from timely care, compared with patients with adenocarcinoma. One randomised controlled trial supported timeliness as being advantageous in those with stage I-IIIA disease.
conclusionThere are limitations to the available evidence, but observed trends suggest timeliness to be of particular importance in surgical candidates. In more advanced disease, survival trends are likely outweighed by symptom burden, performance status or clinical urgency dictating timeliness of treatment.
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Registered trials
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.