Table 1.
Descriptive statistics, SEER-Medicare, 2007–2015
| Characteristic | Overall | CT alone | PET with or without CT | Patients with PET | P * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | % | ||
| Total | 36 469 | 8888 | 27 581 | 75.6 | — |
| Year of diagnosis | |||||
| 2007 | 3768 (10.3) | 1174 (13.2) | 2594 (9.4) | 68.8 | <.001 |
| 2008 | 3764 (10.3) | 1097 (12.3) | 2667 (9.7) | 70.9 | |
| 2009 | 3769 (10.3) | 1015 (11.4) | 2754 (10) | 73.1 | |
| 2010 | 3772 (10.3) | 942 (10.6) | 2830 (10.3) | 75 | |
| 2011 | 3814 (10.5) | 919 (10.3) | 2895 (10.5) | 75.9 | |
| 2012 | 4159 (11.4) | 1010 (11.4) | 3149 (11.4) | 75.7 | |
| 2013 | 4625 (12.7) | 976 (11) | 3649 (13.2) | 78.9 | |
| 2014 | 4748 (13) | 951 (10.7) | 3797 (13.8) | 80 | |
| 2015 | 4050 (11.1) | 804 (9.1) | 3246 (11.8) | 80.1 | |
| Age, y | |||||
| 66–69 | 7942 (21.8) | 1710 (19.2) | 6232 (22.6) | 78.5 | <.001 |
| 70–74 | 10 342 (28.4) | 2282 (25.7) | 8060 (29.2) | 77.9 | |
| 75 and older | 18 185 (49.9) | 4896 (55.1) | 13 289 (48.2) | 73.1 | |
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 19 972 (54.8) | 4910 (55.2) | 15 062 (54.6) | 75.4 | .30 |
| Male | 16 497 (45.2) | 3978 (44.8) | 12 519 (45.4) | 75.9 | |
| Race or ethnicity | |||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 28 881 (79.2) | 6387 (71.9) | 22 494 (81.6) | 77.9 | <.001 |
| Non-Hispanic black | 3123 (8.6) | 1145 (12.9) | 1978 (7.2) | 63.3 | |
| Hispanic | 1907 (5.2) | 581 (6.5) | 1326 (4.8) | 69.5 | |
| Other | 2558 (7) | 775 (8.7) | 1783 (6.5) | 69.7 | |
| Marital status | |||||
| Not married | 19 470 (53.4) | 5446 (61.3) | 14 024 (50.9) | 72 | <.001 |
| Married or partnered | 16 999 (46.6) | 3442 (38.7) | 13 557 (49.2) | 89.8 | |
| Geographic region | |||||
| East | 7639 (21) | 1803 (20.3) | 5836 (21.2) | 76.4 | <.001 |
| Midwest | 4509 (12.4) | 1059 (11.9) | 3450 (12.5) | 76.5 | |
| South | 10 538 (28.9) | 2461 (27.7) | 8077 (29.3) | 76.6 | |
| West | 13 783 (37.8) | 3565 (40.1) | 10 218 (37.1) | 74.1 | |
| Patient residence† | |||||
| Urban | 31 427 (86.3) | 7702 (86.8) | 23 725 (86.1) | 75.5 | .11 |
| Rural | 5002 (13.7) | 1173 (13.2) | 3829 (13.9) | 76.5 | |
| Census tract poverty‡ | |||||
| Less than median level | 18 255 (50.2) | 4030 (45.5) | 14 225 (51.7) | 77.9 | <.001 |
| Greater than or equal to median level | 18 126 (49.8) | 4819 (54.5) | 13 307 (48.3) | 73.4 | |
| Census tract education | |||||
| Less than median level | 18 227 (50.1) | 4088 (46.2) | 14 139 (51.4) | 77.6 | <.001 |
| Greater than or equal to median level | 18 154 (49.9) | 4761 (53.8) | 13 393 (48.6) | 73.8 | |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | |||||
| 0 | 17 158 (47.1) | 3848 (43.3) | 13 310 (48.3) | 77.6 | <.001 |
| 1 | 8548 (23.4) | 2030 (22.8) | 6518 (23.6) | 76.3 | |
| 2 or more | 10 763 (29.5) | 3010 (33.9) | 7753 (28.1) | 72 | |
| Facility of first treatment | |||||
| NCI center | 3092 (8.5) | 489 (5.5) | 2603 (9.5) | 84.2 | <.001 |
| Teaching hospital | 17 250 (47.4) | 4068 (46) | 13 182 (47.9) | 76.4 | |
| Other facility | 16 043 (44.1) | 4278 (48.4) | 11 765 (42.7) | 73.3 | |
| AJCC Stage Group 6th ed. | |||||
| Stage I | 9974 (27.4) | 1657 (18.7) | 8317 (30.2) | 83.4 | <.001 |
| Stage II | 1862 (5.1) | 230 (2.6) | 1632 (5.9) | 87.6 | |
| Stage III | 8971 (24.7) | 1926 (21.8) | 7045 (25.6) | 78.5 | |
| Stage IV | 13 237 (36.4) | 4226 (47.7) | 9011 (32.7) | 68.1 | |
| Unknown stage | 2351 (6.5) | 817 (9.2) | 1534 (5.6) | 65.2 | |
| Type of treatment | |||||
| No treatment | 6011 (16.5) | 3097 (34.8) | 2914 (10.6) | 48.5 | <.001 |
| Radiation | 6391 (17.5) | 1704 (19.2) | 4687 (17) | 73.3 | |
| Surgery | 6545 (18) | 1082 (12.2) | 5463 (19.8) | 83.5 | |
| Chemotherapy | 4595 (12.6) | 1141 (12.8) | 3454 (12.5) | 75.2 | |
| Surgery and radiation | 473 (1.3) | 59 (0.7) | 414 (1.5) | 87.5 | |
| Chemotherapy and radiation | 9611 (26.4) | 1541 (17.3) | 8070 (29.3) | 84 | |
| Chemotherapy and surgery | 1738 (4.8) | 185 (2.1) | 1553 (5.6) | 89.4 | |
| Chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation | 1105 (3.0) | 79 (0.9) | 1026 (3.7) | 92.9 | |
| MRI brain imaging | |||||
| No MRI | 21 503 (59) | 6130 (69) | 15 373 (55.7) | 71.5 | <.001 |
| MRI | 14 966 (41) | 2758 (31) | 12 208 (44.3) | 81.6 | |
| Histology | |||||
| Other NSCLC | 25 155 (69) | 6514 (73.3) | 18 641 (67.6) | 74.1 | <.001 |
| Squamous cell | 11 314 (31) | 2374 (26.7) | 8940 (32.4) | 79 | |
*
P value comparing PET with or without CT vs CT alone using a two-sided chi-square test. AJCC = American Joint Committee on Cancer; CT = computerized tomography imaging; MRI = Magnetic Resonance Imaging; NCI = National Cancer Institute; NSCLC = non-small cell lung cancer; PET = positron emission tomography imaging; SEER = Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results.
†
Urban or rural classification is based on US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Urban Commuting Area Codes.
‡
Area-level poverty defined at the census tract, and for those with few observations area level is at the zip code.