Vladmir C. Cordeiro de Lima MD, PhD , Ana Gelatti MD, MSc , José F.P. Moura MD, PhD , Aline F. Fares MD, MSc , Gilberto de Castro Jr. MD, PhD , Clarissa Mathias MD, PhD , Ricardo M. Terra MD, PhD , Gustavo Werutsky MD, PhD , Marcelo Corassa MD , Luiz Henrique L. Araújo MD, PhD , Eduardo Cronenberger MD, MSc , Fernanda K. Fujiki MD , Sandro Reichow MD , Antônio Vinícius T. da Silva MD , Tércia V. Reis MD , Mônica Luciana A. Padoan MD , Patrícia Pacheco MD , Rosely Yamamura MD , Caroline Kawamura MD , Eldsamira Mascarenhas MD, MSc , Clarissa Baldotto MD, PhD
{"title":"Health Services Access Inequalities in Brazil Result in Poorer Outcomes for Stage III NSCLC—RELANCE/LACOG 0118","authors":"Vladmir C. Cordeiro de Lima MD, PhD , Ana Gelatti MD, MSc , José F.P. Moura MD, PhD , Aline F. Fares MD, MSc , Gilberto de Castro Jr. MD, PhD , Clarissa Mathias MD, PhD , Ricardo M. Terra MD, PhD , Gustavo Werutsky MD, PhD , Marcelo Corassa MD , Luiz Henrique L. Araújo MD, PhD , Eduardo Cronenberger MD, MSc , Fernanda K. Fujiki MD , Sandro Reichow MD , Antônio Vinícius T. da Silva MD , Tércia V. Reis MD , Mônica Luciana A. Padoan MD , Patrícia Pacheco MD , Rosely Yamamura MD , Caroline Kawamura MD , Eldsamira Mascarenhas MD, MSc , Clarissa Baldotto MD, PhD","doi":"10.1016/j.jtocrr.2024.100646","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Stage III NSCLC is a heterogeneous disease, representing approximately one-third of newly diagnosed lung cancers. Brazil lacks detailed information regarding stage distribution, treatment patterns, survival, and prognostic variables in locally advanced NSCLC.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>RELANCE/LACOG 0118 is an observational, retrospective cohort study assessing sociodemographic and clinical data of patients diagnosed with having stage III NSCLC from January 2015 to June 2019, regardless of treatment received. The study was conducted across 13 cancer centers in Brazil. Disease status and survival data were collected up to June 2021. Descriptive statistics, survival analyses, and a multivariable Cox regression model were performed. <em>p</em> values less than 0.05 were considered significant.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>We recruited 403 patients with stage III NSCLC. Most were male (64.0%), White (31.5%), and smokers or former smokers (86.1%). Most patients had public health insurance (67.5%), had stage IIIA disease (63.2%), and were treated with concurrent chemoradiation (53.1%). The median follow-up time was 33.83 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 30.43–37.50). Median overall survival (OS) was 27.97 months (95% CI: 21.57–31.73), and median progression-free survival was 11.23 months (95% CI: 10.70–12.77). The type of treatment was independently associated with OS and progression-free survival, whereas the types of health insurance and histology were independent predictors of OS only.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Brazilian patients with stage III NSCLC with public health insurance are diagnosed later and have poorer OS. Nevertheless, patients with access to adequate treatment have outcomes similar to those reported in the pivotal trials. Health policy should be improved to make lung cancer diagnosis faster and guarantee prompt access to adequate treatment in Brazil.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":17675,"journal":{"name":"JTO Clinical and Research Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266636432400016X/pdfft?md5=57c47047bb2b8edb7d9c4b08d8eae3c3&pid=1-s2.0-S266636432400016X-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JTO Clinical and Research Reports","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266636432400016X","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction
Stage III NSCLC is a heterogeneous disease, representing approximately one-third of newly diagnosed lung cancers. Brazil lacks detailed information regarding stage distribution, treatment patterns, survival, and prognostic variables in locally advanced NSCLC.
Methods
RELANCE/LACOG 0118 is an observational, retrospective cohort study assessing sociodemographic and clinical data of patients diagnosed with having stage III NSCLC from January 2015 to June 2019, regardless of treatment received. The study was conducted across 13 cancer centers in Brazil. Disease status and survival data were collected up to June 2021. Descriptive statistics, survival analyses, and a multivariable Cox regression model were performed. p values less than 0.05 were considered significant.
Results
We recruited 403 patients with stage III NSCLC. Most were male (64.0%), White (31.5%), and smokers or former smokers (86.1%). Most patients had public health insurance (67.5%), had stage IIIA disease (63.2%), and were treated with concurrent chemoradiation (53.1%). The median follow-up time was 33.83 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 30.43–37.50). Median overall survival (OS) was 27.97 months (95% CI: 21.57–31.73), and median progression-free survival was 11.23 months (95% CI: 10.70–12.77). The type of treatment was independently associated with OS and progression-free survival, whereas the types of health insurance and histology were independent predictors of OS only.
Conclusions
Brazilian patients with stage III NSCLC with public health insurance are diagnosed later and have poorer OS. Nevertheless, patients with access to adequate treatment have outcomes similar to those reported in the pivotal trials. Health policy should be improved to make lung cancer diagnosis faster and guarantee prompt access to adequate treatment in Brazil.