title: National survey of the medical treatment status for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Treatment choice for NSCLC in China has not previously been reported. This paper explores the clinical practice and adherence to treatment guidelines for NSCLC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A specifically designed questionnaire was used. It consisted of personal information of the responders and treatment details (patient identification data was excluded). Questionnaires were delivered to doctors in 12 major cities in China. Doctors were asked to answer the questionnaires based on real cases in their daily practice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  987 cases of NSCLC were included. In first-line chemotherapy, regimens were mostly platinum-based among which gemcitabine plus platinum was predominately used (27.4%), followed by docetaxel plus platinum (16.2%) and paclitaxel plus platinum (13.5%). In second-line therapy some were treated with single agents, such as docetaxel (12.9%), gefitinib (11.1%), pemetrexed (9.3%), and erlotinib (3.5%). 44.5% were with doublet therapy. Detection rate of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation was only 9.6% because of the limited prevalence of testing technology. EGFR mutation rate was 46.8%. EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) were used more frequently as salvage (14.8%) rather than upfront therapy (5.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This survey reveals the daily clinical treatment for NSCLC in China. Overall data showed modest adherence to the national guideline (NCCN guideline Chinese version) for first-line chemotherapy. We believe this survey is valuable to provide a reference for further clinical trial design and policy making.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Zhihuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hongyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jingxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Likun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D002681:China; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D009367:Neoplasm Staging
chemical_list: D066246:ErbB Receptors