Table 1. Changing features of patients with small-cell lung cancer over the duration of the NLCA (n = 18,513).
| Year of Diagnosis | ||||||||
| 2004/2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | test for trends | |
| Number of patients N | 1867 | 1836 | 2081 | 2697 | 3208 | 3325 | 3499 | |
| Median Survival in days | ||||||||
| Whole cohort (n = 18513) | 179 | 179 | 190 | 190 | 179 | 186 | 190 | |
| Limited stage (n = 4830) | 358 | 321 | 343 | 362 | 332 | 358 | 339 | |
| Extensive stage (n = 9874) | 102 | 120 | 139 | 124 | 113 | 124 | 124 | |
| Stage Unknown (n = 772) | 168 | 135 | 183 | 219 | 128 | 223 | 256 | |
| Stage uncertain (n = 933) | 226 | 208 | 208 | 194 | 237 | 201 | 285 | |
| Stage missing (2104) | 168 | 164 | 164 | 161 | 142 | 142 | 168 | |
| Median age at diagnosis | 67.9 | 68.2 | 68.3 | 68.1 | 68.3 | 68.6 | 68.7 | |
| Sex (%) | ||||||||
| Female | 879 (47.08) | 843 (45.92) | 926 (44.50) | 1248 (46.27) | 1537 (47.91) | 1616 (48.60) | 1741 (49.76) | |
| Male | 988 (52.92) | 993 (54.08) | 1155 (55.50) | 1449 (53.73) | 1671 (52.09) | 1709 (51.40) | 1758 (50.24) | <0.001 |
| Age n (%) | ||||||||
| <65 | 668 (35.78) | 634 (34.33) | 709 (34.07) | 940 (34.85) | 1105 (34.45) | 1121 (33.71) | 1144 (32.70) | |
| 65–75 | 607 (32.51) | 612 (33.33) | 710 (34.12) | 901 (33.41) | 1103 (34.38) | 1124 (33.80) | 1219 (34.84) | |
| >75 | 592 (31.71) | 590 (32.14) | 662 (31.81) | 856 (31.74) | 1000 (31.17) | 1080 (32.48) | 1136 (32.47) | 0.101† |
| Performance Status (%) | ||||||||
| 0 | 223 (11.94) | 252 (13.73) | 261 (12.54) | 338 (12.53) | 456 (14.21) | 503 (15.13) | 550 (15.72) | |
| 1 | 395 (21.16) | 454 (24.73) | 533 (25.61) | 746 (27.66) | 948 (29.55) | 1039 (31.25) | 1229 (35.12) | |
| 2 | 304 (16.28) | 327 (17.81) | 411 (19.75) | 506 (18.76) | 648 (20.20) | 736 (22.14) | 747 (21.35) | |
| 3 | 188 (10.07) | 182 (9.91) | 221 (10.62) | 351 (13.01) | 478 (14.90) | 480 (14.44) | 510 (14.58) | |
| 4 | 67 (3.59) | 60 (3.27) | 78 (3.75) | 91 (3.37) | 132 (4.11) | 148 (4.45) | 152 (4.34) | 0.877† |
| missing | 690 (36.96) | 561 (30.56) | 577 (27.73) | 665 (24.66) | 546 (17.02) | 419 (12.60) | 311 (8.89) | |
| Charlson Index (%) | ||||||||
| 0 | 815 (43.65) | 736 (40.09) | 811 (38.97) | 912 (33.82) | 1035 (32.26) | 954 (28.69) | 948 (27.09) | |
| 1 | 321 (17.19) | 344 (18.74) | 383 (18.40) | 486 (18.02) | 581 (18.11) | 595 (17.89) | 603 (17.23) | |
| 2–3 | 191 (10.23) | 218 (11.87) | 238 (11.44) | 346 (12.83) | 415 (12.84) | 436 (13.11) | 471 (13.46) | |
| 4+ | 540 (28.92) | 538 (29.30) | 649 (31.19) | 953 (35.34) | 1177 (36.69) | 1340 (40.30) | 1477 (42.21) | <0.001† |
| Stage (%) | ||||||||
| SCLC-Limited | 449 (24.05) | 451 (24.56) | 480 (23.07) | 643 (23.84) | 893 (27.84) | 887 (26.68) | 1027 (29.35) | |
| SCLC-Extensive | 794 (42.53) | 824 (44.88) | 951 (45.70) | 1356 (50.28) | 1693 (52.77) | 2020 (60.75) | 2236 (63.90) | |
| SCLC-Unknown | 177 (9.48) | 246 (13.40) | 156 (7.50) | 90 (3.34) | 62 (1.93) | 24 (0.72) | 17 (0.49) | |
| SCLC-Uncertain | 37 (1.98) | 57 (3.10) | 245 (11.77) | 285 (10.57) | 193 (6.02) | 93 (2.80) | 23 (0.66) | |
| Stage missing | 410 (21.96) | 258 (14.05) | 249 (11.97) | 323 (11.98) | 367 (11.44) | 301 (9.05) | 196 (5.60) | <0.001† |
| Chemotherapy n (%) | 1236 (66.20) | 1266 (68.95) | 1483 (71.26) | 1878 (69.63) | 2188 (68.20) | 2282 (68.63) | 2478 (70.82) | 0.055 |
| Socio-economic status (%) | ||||||||
| 1 (Most Affluent) | 234 (12.75) | 314 (15.09) | 395 (14.65) | 494 (15.40) | 458 (13.77) | 487 (13.92) | ||
| 2 | 312 (16.99) | 383 (18.40) | 469 (17.39) | 582 (18.14) | 600 (18.05) | 657 (18.78) | ||
| 3 | 348 (18.95) | 413 (19.85) | 546 (20.24) | 620 (19.33) | 615 (18.50) | 716 (20.46) | ||
| 4 | 381 (20.75) | 455 (21.86) | 575 (21.32) | 738 (23.00) | 711 (21.38) | 789 (22.55) | ||
| 5 (Least Affluent) | 499 (27.18) | 515 (24.75) | 698 (25.88) | 722 (24.06) | 753 (22.65) | 817 (23.35) | 0.015† | |
| Missing | 62 (3.38) | 1 (0.05) | 14 (0.52) | 2 (0.06) | 188 (5.65) | 33 (0.94) | ||
†
Cuzick’s non-parametric test for trends otherwise chi-square test for trends.