Patterns of initial management of lung cancer in the Republic of Ireland: a population-based observational study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine geographic and temporal trends in the patterns of initial management of lung cancer in Ireland, and to describe differences in case management according to health board of residence.


METHODS
Population-based observational study using the database of the National Cancer Registry of Ireland.


METHODS
7286 patients with primary malignant lung tumours who were diagnosed in Ireland during the 5-year period from 1994 to 1998.


METHODS
We compared health boards in terms of treatment patterns of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases adjusting for differences in age, gender, and deprivation status.


RESULTS
Only half of the patients received any cancer-specific treatment. Radiotherapy was the most commonly employed single-treatment modality (21.7%) followed by surgery (12.3%) and chemotherapy (8.8%). Relative to the Eastern Health Board, the risk of being untreated was significantly higher for NSCLC patients living in the Western, Mid-Western, North, and South-Eastern Health Boards. For SCLC, only the Mid-Western and South-Eastern Heath Boards had significantly higher relative risks. For both groups, older patients were less likely to receive treatment, but we could not adjust for stage and comorbidity.


CONCLUSIONS
We found wide regional variations in treatment rates of lung cancer in Ireland.
Mahmud
Salaheddin M
SM
Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Oncology, McGill University, 546 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., Canada H2W 1S6.
Reilly
Marie
M
Comber
Harry
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000628:therapy*; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D016015:Logistic Models; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis