Survival of Australian lung cancer patients and the impact of distance from and attendance at a thoracic specialist centre: a data linkage study

Records of nearly 24,000 Australian patients with NSCLC were evaluated to determine the relationship between distance to the nearest speciality hospital (NASH) and survival.  Increasing distance from a NASH was associated with decreasing likelihood of admission to a NASH and decreasing likelihood of lung cancer resection, resulting in an increasing hazard of lung cancer death.  Lung cancer outcomes are best when patients are treated in a specialty hospital.