title: The LungPath study: variation in the diagnostic and staging pathway for patients with lung cancer in England.
abstract: The LungPath project investigated differences in lung cancer diagnostic practice by following the diagnostic pathways of 1507 patients from 19 representative English lung cancer centres. We found large variation in the proportion of patients receiving positron emission tomography-CT scan (range 13%-64%) and endobronchial ultrasound (range 2%-31%). There was also wide variation in the proportion of patients with good performance status who had their tumours histologically confirmed (range 61%-100%). The variation is discussed with reference to current national guidelines and implications for patient care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Pathology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cane
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Registration Service, Public Health England, UK.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Linklater
authors.affiliation: Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santis
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Population Health, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peake
mesh_terms: D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D019160:Endosonography; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Lung Cancer