Clinical investigation into the initial diagnosis and treatment of 1,168 lung cancer patients.

The aim of the present study was to analyse clinical data obtained from lung cancer patients, including the initial clinical symptoms upon diagnosis, duration of patient delay in presenting to a doctor, lung cancer stage, treatment strategy and prognosis. A retrospective analysis was conducted of the clinical features of 1,168 lung cancer patients who were initially diagnosed and treated at the Tumor Hospital of Shandong Province (Jinan, China) in 2009. The Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed to analyse the influence of gender, age, predominant symptoms, histopathological or cytological type and clinical staging on the overall patient survival. The follow-up rate of the present study was 92.4%, and the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 80.4, 44.9 and 15.8%, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the patient age, extent of the tumour (T stage), extent of lymph node spread (N stage), overall clinical stage and treatment strategy were independent risk factors associated with patient survival. The present study identified that the initial symptoms of lung cancer varied, patient delay was long, the lung cancer cases were diagnosed in late clinical stages and the prognosis was poor.