title: Urban vs. rural patients. Differences in stage and overall survival among patients treated surgically for lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Besides the undoubted influence of risk factors on morbidity and survival time, there are also other environmental factors, such as awareness of the prevalence of risk factors and the availability of modern diagnosis and treatment methods.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate differences in lung cancer 5-year overall survival rates between urban and rural patients hospitalized in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Medical University in Lublin, Poland, and possible influence of several risk factors on these rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  The analysis was based on 125 lung cancer patients who underwent surgical procedures in years 2006-2007 and who agreed to take part in the survey. The study aimed at recognition of the health situation and selected demographic traits of people who had been treated surgically for lung cancer. The differences were evaluated between rural and urban inhabitants in gender, age, lung function, smoking habits, exposure to risk factors at work, family history of cancer, staging of the disease, histological type of cancer, post-surgical treatment, and their possible influence on overall survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that the only noted differences between urban and rural population were in tobacco smoking and lung function. Survival rates were very similar and did not differ from the European average.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The assumption that Polish rural patients are presenting with later cancer stages at the time of diagnosis, and have worse chances for survival, has become invalid in modern times.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Lublin, Poland. rybojad@wp.pl
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rybojad
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dłuski
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rybojad
authors.forename: Mariusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kędra
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawicki
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skoczylas
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tabarkiewicz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012907:Smoking; D014505:Urban Population