Demographics, stage, histology and radical treatment rates according to 12 presenting symptom features (n=3800)
| Cough | Abnormal radiograph | Haemoptysis | Cough and haemoptysis | LRTI | Breathlessness | Weight loss | Systemic symptoms | Chest pain | Cough and breathlessness | Neurological | Other combinations | Total | |
| Age (years) | |||||||||||||
| n | 226 | 220 | 188 | 100 | 52 | 359 | 106 | 95 | 159 | 177 | 155 | 1963 | 3800 |
| Mean | 69.4 | 71.4 | 69 | 68.3 | 70.2 | 73.2 | 72.3 | 72.6 | 68.9 | 71.3 | 68.8 | 69.9 | 70.3 |
| SD | 9.7 | 9.9 | 9.7 | 10.7 | 10 | 9.2 | 10.2 | 10.5 | 10.1 | 8.8 | 10.9 | 10.2 | 10.1 |
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| Gender | |||||||||||||
| Male | 133 (59) | 128 (58) | 137 (73) | 67 (67) | 26 (50) | 209 (58) | 67 (60) | 55 (59) | 97 (61) | 92 (52) | 91 (59) | 1142 (58) | 2241 (59) |
| Female | 93 (41) | 92 (42) | 51 (27) | 33 (33) | 26 (50) | 150 (42) | 42 (40) | 39 (41) | 62 (39) | 85 (48) | 64 (41) | 821 (42) | 1558 (41) |
| Total | 226 (100) | 220 (100) | 188 (100) | 100 (100) | 52 (100) | 359 (100) | 106 (100) | 94 (100) | 159 (100) | 177 (100) | 155 (100) | 1963 (100) | 3799 (100) |
| Lung cancer stage | |||||||||||||
| I | 50 (22) | 74 (34) | 39 (20) | 26 (26) | 13 (25) | 53 (15) | 19 (18) | 8 (9) | 14 (9) | 19 (11) | 6 (4) | (9) | 488 (13) |
| II | 12 (5) | 8 (4) | 10 (5) | 5 (5) | 2 (4) | 17 (5) | 4 (4) | 2 (2) | 10 (6) | 8 (5) | 1 (1) | 51 (3) | 130 (3) |
| III | 78 (35) | 49 (22) | 47 (25) | 26 (26) | 12 (23) | 114 (32) | 22 (20) | 24 (26) | 42 (26) | 60 (34) | 13 (8) | 543 (28) | 1030 (27) |
| IV | 57 (25) | 48 (22) | 53 (28) | 28 (28) | 12 (23) | 89 (25) | 33 (31) | 32 (34) | 70 (44) | 52 (29) | 109 (70) | 735 (38) | 1318 (35) |
| Limited | 10 (4) | 10 (5) | 10 (5) | 5 (5) | 3 (6) | 14 (4) | 5 (5) | 4 (4) | 6 (4) | 13 (7) | 4 (3) | 107 (6) | 191 (5) |
| Extensive | 6 (3) | 3 (1) | 8 (4) | 4 (4) | 4 (8) | 17 (5) | 12 (11) | 24 (26) | 7 (4) | 10 (6) | 16 (10) | 163 (8) | 274 (7) |
| Clinical | 13 (6) | 28 (13) | 21 (11) | 6 (6) | 6 (12) | 55 (15) | 11 (10) | 0 (0) | 10 (6) | 15 (8) | 6 (4) | 195 (10) | 366 (10) |
| Total | 226 (100) | 220 (100) | 188 (100) | 100 (100) | 52 (100) | 359 (100) | 106 (100) | 94 (100) | 159 (100) | 177 (100) | 155 (100) | 1961 (100) | 3797 (100) |
| Lung cancer histology | |||||||||||||
| NSCLC-nos | 64 (28) | 46 (21) | 60 (32) | 24 (24) | 12 (23) | 80 (22) | 24 (22) | 30 (32) | 66 (42) | 41 (23) | 29 (19) | 504 (26) | 980 (26) |
| Adenocarcinoma | 29 (13) | 41 (19) | 15 (8) | 10 (10) | 4 (8) | 66 (18) | 10 (9) | 2 (2) | 22 (14) | 33 (19) | 19 (12) | 213 (11) | 464 (12) |
| BAC | 4 (2) | 1 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) | 2 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (2) | 0 (0) | 6 (0) | 20 (1) |
| Squamous | 73 (32) | 45 (21) | 60 (32) | 38 (38) | 12 (23) | 58 (16) | 23 (22) | 15 (16) | 28 (18) | 44 (25) | 11 (7) | 422 (22) | 829 (22) |
| Other NSCLC | 4 (2) | 7 (3) | 6 (3) | 4 (4) | 2 (4) | 1 (0) | 1 (1) | 11 (12) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 4 (3) | 44 (2) | 86 (2) |
| SCLC | 19 (8) | 15 (7) | 20 (11) | 9 (9) | 12 (23) | 36 (10) | 18 (17) | 0 (0) | 15 (9) | 27 (15) | 21 (14) | 326 (17) | 518 (14) |
| Clinical | 33 (15) | 63 (29) | 25 (13) | 13 (13) | 10 (19) | 116 (32) | 30 (28) | 37 (39) | 27 (17) | 28 (16) | 71 (46) | 448 (23) | 901 (24) |
| Total | 226 (100) | 218 (100) | 188 (100) | 100 (100) | 52 (100) | 359 (100) | 106 (100) | 95 (100) | 159 (100) | 177 (100) | 155 (100) | 1963 (100) | 3798 (100) |
| Treatment | |||||||||||||
| Resection | 47 (21) | 54 (25) | 43 (23) | 22 (22) | 9 (17) | 31 (9) | 10 (9) | 6 (6) | 11 (7) | 13 (7) | 4 (3) | 108 (6) | 358 (9) |
| Rad XRT | 25 (11) | 22 (10) | 10 (5) | 5 (5) | 2 (4) | 14 (4) | 5 (5) | 2 (2) | 8 (5) | 5 (3) | 3 (2) | 91 (5) | 192 (5) |
| Chemo | 55 (24) | 42 (19) | 47 (25) | 29 (29) | 15 (29) | 52 (15) | 22 (21) | 14 (15) | 32 (20) | 54 (31) | 18 (12) | 475 (24) | 855 (23) |
| Pall XRT | 45 (20) | 22 (10) | 51 (27) | 24 (24) | 6 (12) | 64 (18) | 12 (11) | 13 (14) | 53 (33) | 39 (22) | 53 (34) | 545 (28) | 927 (24) |
| Multimodal | 19 (8) | 9 (4) | 4 (2) | 6 (6) | 6 (12) | 13 (4) | 8 (8) | 2 (2) | 14 (9) | 15 (9) | 0 (0) | 64 (3) | 160 (4) |
| BSC | 29 (13) | 69 (32) | 29 (15) | 13 (13) | 11 (21) | 169 (47) | 41 (39) | 58 (61) | 40 (25) | 50 (28) | 71 (46) | 577 (29) | 1157 (31) |
| Died prior | 1 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (4) | 83 (4) | 95 (3) |
| Unknown | 5 (2) | 1 (1) | 3 (1) | 1 (1) | 2 (4) | 12 (3) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 19 (1) | 50 (1) |
| Erlotinib | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 4 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 4 (0) |
| Total | 226 (100) | 219 (100) | 188 (100) | 100 (100) | 52 (100) | 359 (100) | 106 (100) | 95 (100) | 159 (100) | 177 (100) | 155 (100) | 1962 (100) | 3798 (100) |
| Performance status | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 74 (40) | 53 (34) | 48 (34) | 30 (36) | 13 (30) | 29 (11) | 21 (26) | 7 (10) | 48 (37) | 27 (18) | 15 (12) | 257 (16) | 623 (21) |
| 1 | 75 (41) | 47 (30) | 55 (38) | 36 (43) | 17 (40) | 74 (28) | 21 (26) | 18 (25) | 42 (33) | 63 (43) | 27 (21) | 528 (34) | 1003 (33) |
| 2 | 24 (13) | 24 (15) | 17 (12) | 9 (11) | 9 (21) | 65 (24) | 14 (18) | 13 (18) | 19 (15) | 31 (21) | 26 (20) | 340 (22) | 591 (20) |
| 3 | 6 (3) | 18 (11) | 20 (14) | 5 (6) | 2 (5) | 60 (22) | 16 (20) | 14 (19) | 18 (14) | 18 (12) | 22 (17) | 292 (19) | 491 (16) |
| 4 | 3 (3) | 16 (10) | 3 (2) | 3 (4) | 2 (5) | 40 (15) | 8 (10) | 21 (29) | 2 (2) | 9 (6) | 38 (30) | 158 (10) | 305 (10) |
| Total | 184 (10) | 158 (100) | 144 (100) | 83 (100) | 43 (100) | 268 (100) | 80 (100) | 73 (100) | 129 (100) | 148 (100) | 128 (100) | 1575 (100) | 3013 (100) |
Other symptoms category includes gastrointestinal symptoms, hoarse voice, wheeze, facial swelling, mass, fracture, fall and stridor.
LRTI was diagnosed when clinical features strongly suggested an infective component, including sputum purulence, fever and acute constitutional symptoms.
Systemic symptoms included otherwise unexplained weight loss and lethargy. Neurological symptoms were mostly due to cerebral metastases.
Performance status score: The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score runs from 0 to 5, with 0 denoting perfect health and 5 death: 0—asymptomatic (fully active, able to carry on all predisease activities without restriction); 1—symptomatic but completely ambulatory (restricted in physically strenuous activity but ambulatory and able to carry out work of a light or sedentary nature; for example, light housework, office work); 2—symptomatic, <50% in bed during the day (ambulatory and capable of all self-care but unable to carry out any work activities; up and about more than 50% of waking hours); 3—symptomatic, >50% in bed, but not bedbound (capable of only limited self-care, confined to bed or chair 50% or more of waking hours); 4—bedbound (completely disabled; cannot carry on any self-care; totally confined to bed or chair); 5—death.
BAC, bronchioloalveolar carcinoma; chemo, chemotherapy; LRTI, lower respiratory tract infection; multimodal, multimodality therapy (chemotherapy and either radiotherapy or surgery); NSCLC-nos, non-small cell lung cancer, not otherwise specified; Pall XRT, palliative radiotherapy; rad XRT, radical radiotherapy; BSC, best supportive care; SCLC, small cell lung cancer.