Negative impact of rurality on lung cancer survival in a population-based study.

Virginie Westeel (1) , Alexandre Pitard , Mael Martin , Isabelle Thaon (2) , Alain Depierre , Jean-Charles Dalphin (2) , Patrick Arveux (3, 4)

1 CEF2P / CARCINO - Carcinogénèse épithéliale : facteurs prédictifs et pronostiques - UFC (UR 3181)
2 LCE - Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249)
3 Registre des Cancers du Sein et autres Cancers Gynécologiques de Côte d'Or - Breast and Gynaecologic Cancer Registry of Côte d’Or
4 Registre des tumeurs du Doubs et du Territoire de Belfort [CHRU Besançon]

INTRODUCTION: Several studies have suggested that rurality is a risk factor for worse prognosis in cancer. METHODS: The study population included the 2268 lung cancer cases collected between 1981 and 1996 in the Doubs Cancer Registry (France). RESULTS: The numbers of patients were 849 (31.8%) in rural areas and 89 (3.3%) in very rural areas. The relative 5-year survival was 15.2% in rural areas and 13.4% in urban areas (p = 0.5), and 2.7% in very rural areas and 14.4% in extended urban areas (p = 0.02). Multivariate analyses of observed and relative survival showed that patients living in very rural areas (p < 0.0001), 65 years of age and older and having small cell carcinoma had a significantly shorter survival. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the multidimensional definition of rurality identified a population with unfavorable prognoses.

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Virginie Westeel, Alexandre Pitard, Mael Martin, Isabelle Thaon, Alain Depierre, et al.. Negative impact of rurality on lung cancer survival in a population-based study.. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 2007, 2 (7), pp.613-8. ⟨10.1097/JTO.0b013e318074bb96⟩. ⟨hal-00343108⟩