OBJECTIVES. The study aims to evaluate prevalence and incidence of patients diagnosed with lung cancer in Italian real-world settings of clinical practice by using administrative data.

METHODS. This observational retrospective study was performed using administrative databases of a Northern Italian Region. All adult patients were included between January 2010 and December 2018 (study period) if they presented at least a hospitalization discharge diagnosis for lung cancer, identified by ICD-9-CM code 162. First lung cancer diagnosis date marked the index date. Incidence and prevalence were calculated for each year of study period and stratified by gender. Since data were available starting from 2010, the incidence rate was reported starting from year 2011.

RESULTS. Incidence rate appeared constant during study period, ranging from 61.0/100,000 in 2015 to 69.9/100,000 health-assisted individuals in 2011. Incidence rate of diagnosed patients for the last year of study (2018) was 62.1/100,000 health-assisted individuals. Incidence rate increased with age and reached its peak in the age range 70-79, with 218.6/100,000 health-assisted individuals (324.5/100,000 males and 117.8/100,000 females). Prevalence rate of patients diagnosed with lung cancer raised over the years, from 41.0/100,000 in 2010 up to 119.4/100,000 health-assisted individuals in 2018. The same trend of increase was reported for males and females, with prevalence ranging from 60.4/100,000 and 22.6/100,000 in 2010 to 149.6/100,000 and 90.6/100,000 in 2018, respectively. Both incidence and prevalence rates were higher in males than in females in all years analysed.

CONCLUSIONS. The study gave insight into the prevalence and incidence of lung cancer diagnosis, showing how administrative databases can be reliable sources for conducting epidemiological studies. Our findings were consistent with the expected epidemiology (incidence of lung cancer 70/100,000 health-assisted individuals reported by AIRTUM); moreover, our data integrated with pathological anatomy database could allow to quantify patients with lung cancer eligible to targeted therapies.