Trends on clinical characteristics and medical service use of lung cancer in China 2005–14: a multicentre retrospective survey

Abstract Background Nationwide data on clinical diagnosis and treatmentof lung canceris scarce in China. The aim of this study was to investigate the 10-year profile of lung cancer on clinical characteristics and medical service use in China. Methods This study was a hospital-based multicentre retrospective survey. Patients diagnosed with primary lung cancer in tertiary hospitals during 2005–14 were selected from seven geographic regions of China. One month was randomly chosen to represent one year for each hospital by allocating a random number, and 100 cases were included for each month. Inclusion criteria included age 18 years or older, available data on pathological type, stage, and therapy regime. We used a structured questionnaire, designed by a multidisciplinary expert panel of the National Cancer Center of China, to extract information via medical records, including demographic and clinical characteristics and medical service use. To protect patients' privacy, we allocated an identical ID for each patient and filtered the private information. We applied Cochran-Armitage χ 2 test to trend analyses and χ 2 test to geographical variations. This study was approved by Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Ethics Committee. Findings Of 7184 included patients, mean age at diagnosis was 58·3 years (SD 10·2) and non-small cell lung cancer accounted for 6481 (90·2%) patients· Over the decade, the number of patients aged 60 years or older increased from 282 (41·2%) in 2005 to 460 (56·2%) in 2014 (p Interpretation The sustaining high smoking exposure, increase of female patients, and upstaging cancer demonstrate potential challenges and future directions on lung cancer prevention and control in China. Despite substantial changes of clinical characteristics, main treatment options remained unchanged, which merits further investigation. Funding National Health and Family Planning Commission of China.