OBJECTIVES

Up-to-date data on lung cancer treatments used in real-world clinical practice in China is limited. This national first large-scale investigation aims to examine the treatment modalities, outcomes and costs of patients with advanced lung cancer.

METHODS

This study is a chart review of patients diagnosed with advanced (stage IIIb/IV) non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or extensive stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) between 1-Dec-2013 and 30-Nov-2014 from 33 hospitals. Patients were retrospectively observed for up to three years. We present interim data on baseline characteristics and initial treatment modalities of 1,002 patients from 27 hospitals.

RESULTS

Within the study cohort of 1,002 patients, a total of 990 patients (98.80%) were recorded within three histological sub-groups: 16.5% had a diagnosis of SCLC, 21.8% squamous-NSCLC and 60.6% non-squamous-NSCLC. Mean age at diagnosis was 59.10±10.10 years, 66.37% were male (91.28%, 56.01% and 72.12% for squamous-NSCLC, non-squamous-NSCLC and SCLC) and 47.90% were current/ex-smokers (72.48%, 36.74% and 57.58% or squamous-NSCLC, non-squamous-NSCLC and SCLC).

Among 990 analyzed patients, 86.67% were initially treated with systemic therapy (89.09%, 88.99% and 85.17% for SCLC, squamous-NSCLC and non-squamous-NSCLC, respectively) and the majority received chemotherapy only (88.96%, 87.16% and 76.49% for SCLC, squamous-NSCLC and non-squamous-NSCLC, respectively). Of patients who received systemic treatment, platinum doublet-based chemotherapy was most common (94.56%, 85.57% and 80.08% for SCLS, squamous-NSCLC and non-squamous-NSCLC, respectively).

Among 517 non-squamous patients who received systemic treatment, 177 had EGFR mutations data available, 102 were EGFR negative and 75(42.4%) were EGFR positive. Among EGFR positive patients, 25 patients (33.33%) received TKI treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of biologics was considerably low in initial treatment, even though EGFR mutation rates were high among tested patients. These data on real world practice will be useful to clinicians and health policy makers in improving care strategies for this increasingly incident and devastating cancer.