Real-world quality of lung cancer care in the LALUCA registry

Leitung: Prim. –Priv. –Doz.Dr. Georg-Christian Funk
Vertretung: keine
Studienkoordination: Almas Merchant, M.P.H.
Start: 2020
Projektmitglieder an der Klinik Ottakring: Dr.Alexander Pertl, OA. Dr. Klaus Kirchbacher, OÄ. Dr. Elena Egger, Dr. Nino Müser, Almas Merchant, M.P.H, Olga Voitseshyna

Background:

Continuous monitoring of the quality of care is essential for favorable outcomes in lung cancer patients. The UK National Lung Cancer Audit (NLCA) offers quality of care standards that aim to improve quality of care in lung cancer patients. This study compared real-world data with classic quality benchmarks.

Methods:

Based on the quality benchmarks developed by the NLCA, we analyzed the real-world quality of care in patients in the prospectively collected LALUCA (Landsteiner Lung Cancer) registry. Data of newly diagnosed lung cancer patients in two centers in Austria between May 2020 and April 2022 were included in the registry.

Results:

Data on 537 patients (51% men, mean age 68±10yrs) were included. NSCLC and SCLC was detected in 403 (75%) and 58 (11%) patients, respectively. The remaining 76 (14%) cases were not histologically confirmed at the time of data extraction. Of all patients with complete staging, prevalence of clinical stages I, II, III and IV was 12%, 9%, 30% and 49%, respectively. 12% of patients had incomplete staging. Classic quality benchmarks set by the NLCA are shown in Figure 1. Time from first symptoms until first clinical contact was 47 (25 to 117) days, time from first clinical contact until biopsy was 10 (5 to 20) days and time from biopsy until histological report was 5 (3 to 10) days [median (1st to 3rd quartile)], Figure 2.

Conclusion:

Data from the LALUCA registry indicate a high quality of care at the participating centers. Future quality goals include diagnosing more patients with early-stage disease and increasing reported staging completeness, while consistently maintaining the existing high quality.