Effect of Race and Insurance on the Outcome of Stage I Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in the United States, with reported inferior survival among African-Americans.

Patients and methods: Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods were used to compare survival outcomes of 569 patients diagnosed with stage I non-small cell lung cancer from 2001-2010.

Results: African-Americans and Whites differed significantly by age, sex, and insurance type. The median follow-up was 2.3 years. The 2-, 5- and 8-year overall survival was 72%, 47%, and 38%, respectively. Age, stage, insurance type, and surgery were significant predictors of overall survival which remained significant after adjusting for other variables, including race, gender, histology, smoking history, treatment era, chemotherapy or radiotherapy which were not.

Conclusion: Insurance status but not race is an important predictor of survival in patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

Keywords: Lung cancer; insurance; race; survival.