Staging practices of primary non-small-cell lung cancer: a literature review.

Lung cancer is the most frequent cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 80% of all cases. Stage at diagnosis is the most important indicator of survival. Various non-invasive and invasive procedures are available for NSCLC staging. However, the precise indications for performing these procedures remain controversial. There is no evidence about the level of variability in practice of imaging and invasive procedures used for NSCLC staging. Their high costs contribute to the controversy about their use. We performed a literature search on the MEDLINE database to identify studies reporting practice of staging for a nonselected group of patients with NSCLC. Only seven studies enrolling between 185 and 2,071 patients reported NSCLC staging practices. These studies were reviewed to identify patterns in practice of staging work-up and consecutive treatment. Lack of detailed reporting limits the interpretation of the results. Based on our review, future investigations should be conducted to determine the extent of variation in patterns of physician practices of NSCLC staging and their impact on the treatment practice or patient survival.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of strategies introducing FDG-PET into the mediastinal staging of non-small-cell lung cancer from the French healthcare system perspective.

AIM: To determine the most cost-effective strategy using PET for mediastinal staging of potentially operable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Four decision strategies based on French NSCLC work-up practices for the selection of potential surgical candidates were compared, comprising CT only, PET for negative CT, PET for all with anatomical CT, and CT and PET for all cases. The medical literature was surveyed to obtain values for all variables of interest. Costs were assessed with reimbursements from the French healthcare insurance for the year 1999. Expected cost and life expectancy were calculated for all possible outcomes of each strategy. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effects of changing variables on the expected cost and life expectancy. RESULTS: Compared with the CT only strategy, CT and PET for all resulted in a relative reduction of 70% of surgery for persons with mediastinal lymph node metastasis. PET for all with anatomical CT was shown to be a cost-effective alternative to the CT only, with life expectancy increased by 0.10 years and expected cost savings of 61 euros. This strategy was more favourable than PET for negative CT. Overall, sensitivity analyses showed the robustness of the results. CONCLUSION: The introduction of thoracic PET for NSCLC staging is potentially cost-effective in France. Further clinical investigation might help to validate this result.