Table 2.
Descriptive Characteristics by Type of Treatment among Continuously Enrolled Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries with Incident Lung Cancer Diagnosis in West Virginia, July 2003 through December 2006
| Proportion (%)# | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | No Treatment | Surgery Only | Radiation Only | Chemotherapy Only | Combination Treatment |
| Overall, n (%) | 453 (26.8) | 228 (13.5) | 321 (19.0) | 176 (10.4) | 511 (30.3) |
| Cancer type^ | |||||
| NSCLC | 26.7 | 15.7 | 20.6 | 8.4 | 28.6 |
| SCLC | 27.8 | - | 9.4 | 22.5 | 40 |
| AJCC TNM stage^ | |||||
| I | 17.5 | 43.2 | 11.4 | - | 24.9 |
| II | 19.6 | 22.2 | 12.4 | - | 43.1 |
| III | 25.9 | - | 18.3 | 11.8 | 40.5 |
| IV | 34 | - | 25 | 15.4 | 25 |
| Age (years)^ | |||||
| 66–69 | 20.6 | 14 | 13 | 10.4 | 42 |
| 70–74 | 21.8 | 14.6 | 18.4 | 11 | 34.2 |
| 75–79 | 27.9 | 14.1 | 21.2 | 10.4 | 26.5 |
| 80 or more | 39.2 | 10.8 | 23.8 | 9.7 | 16.6 |
| Sex^ | |||||
| Male | 29.6 | 12.4 | 18.3 | 9.8 | 29.9 |
| Female | 23.1 | 15 | 19.9 | 11.2 | 30.7 |
| Race | |||||
| Nonwhite | 44.1 | 11.8 | 11.8 | 14.7 | 17.7 |
| White | 26.5 | 13.5 | 19.2 | 10.3 | 30.5 |
| Urban–rural residence^ | |||||
| Metro | 27.6 | 13.4 | 20.7 | 8.4 | 29.9 |
| Urban | 26.8 | 14.2 | 17.1 | 12.2 | 29.8 |
| Rural | 20 | 10 | 16 | 18 | 36 |
| Comorbidity, Charlson score^ | |||||
| 0 | 31.3 | 10.3 | 17.9 | 10.9 | 29.5 |
| 1 | 21.6 | 15.7 | 18.8 | 10.1 | 33.7 |
| ≥2 | 27.6 | 14 | 19.8 | 10.3 | 28.3 |
NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer; SCLC, small cell lung cancer; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; TNM, Tumor Node Metastasis.
#
Proportions reported are row percentages of beneficiaries receiving particular treatment.
^
Association between characteristic and type of treatment among beneficiaries; chi-square tests (P≤0.05).
-Cell size suppressed to meet privacy guidelines.
Source: West Virginia Cancer Registry-Medicare linked data files, 2002–2007.