Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology (Sep 2020)

Results of the Austrian National Lung Cancer Audit

  • Otto C Burghuber,
  • Klaus Kirchbacher,
  • Andrea Mohn-Staudner,
  • Maximilian Hochmair,
  • Marie-Kathrin Breyer,
  • Michael Studnicka,
  • Michael Rolf Mueller,
  • Petra Feurstein,
  • Andrea Schrott,
  • Bernd Lamprecht,
  • Josef Eckmayr,
  • Friedrich Renner,
  • Josef Bolitschek,
  • Wolfgang Pohl,
  • Peter Schenk,
  • Peter Errhalt,
  • Peter Cerkl,
  • Bernhard Baumgartner,
  • Meinhard Kneussl,
  • Sylvia Hartl

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/1179554920950548
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14

Abstract

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Objectives: The Austrian Lung Cancer Audit (ALCA) is a pilot study to evaluate clinical and organizational factors related to lung cancer care across Austria. Materials and methods: The ALCA is a prospective, observational, noninterventional cohort study conducted in 17 departments in Austria between September 2013 and March 2015. Participating departments were selected based on an annual case load of >50 patients with lung cancer. Results: The ALCA included 745 patients, representing 50.5% of all newly diagnosed cancer cases during that time period. In 75.8% of patients, diagnosis was based on histology, and in 24.2% on cytology; 83.1% had non-small-cell lung cancer, 16.9% small-cell lung cancer; and only 4.6% had to be classified as not otherwise specified cancers. The median time elapsed between first presentation at hospital and diagnosis was 8 days (interquartile range [IQR]: 4-15; range: 0-132); between diagnosis and start of treatment it was 15 days for chemotherapy (IQR: 9-27; range: 0-83), 21 days (IQR: 10-35; range: 0-69) for radiotherapy, and 24 days (IQR: 11-36; range: 0-138) for surgery, respectively. In 150 patients undergoing surgical treatment, only 3 (2.0%; n = 147, 3 missings) were seen with postoperative restaging indicating unjustified surgery. One-year follow-up data were available for 723 patients, indicating excellent 49.8% survival; however, a wide range of survival between departments (range: 37.8-66.7) was seen. Conclusions: The ALCA conducted in high case load departments indicated management of lung cancer in accordance with international guidelines, and overall excellent 1-year survival.