2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) - Posters-P2.07B.11 Delays to Lung Cancer Surgery by Biopsy Technique

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This research examines the impact of biopsy techniques on delays in surgical treatment for early-stage lung cancer, particularly focusing on time-to-treatment initiation (TTI). The study covers patients with stage I lung cancer who underwent surgical resection, with data drawn from the Initiative for Early Lung Cancer Research on Treatment (IELCART) from 2016-2024.<br /><br />Biopsy delay is significant as it can contribute to increased times from diagnosis to surgery, impacting survival and the chance of pathological upstaging. The study assesses whether the type of biopsy—needle, bronchoscopy, or surgical biopsy—affects the time to surgery.<br /><br />Results demonstrate that surgical biopsies incur the least delays in the treatment process. Conversely, bronchoscopic biopsies reduced treatment delay by about 15 days compared to needle biopsies but were less accurate by 9.3% in confirming malignancy. Needle biopsies had a higher accuracy rate but potentially increased delays.<br /><br />Biopsies that were non-malignant or inconclusive contributed a median additional delay of 52 days compared to definitive malignant findings. Patients undergoing both needle biopsy and bronchoscopy typically experienced the longest delays, raising concerns due to the potential for these patients to have larger, riskier nodules.<br /><br />Delays are further exacerbated by the path to treatment, including additional imaging and consultations. This study emphasizes the necessity of minimizing delays at every stage of the treatment pathway to improve outcomes for early-stage lung cancer patients.<br /><br />Overall, the research indicates the critical need for efficient processing and accuracy in biopsy procedures to mitigate delays in surgical treatment, suggesting enhanced guidelines and investigations into alternative diagnostic tools to expedite diagnosis and treatment.

Asset Subtitle

Jeffrey Zhu

Meta Tag

Speaker Jeffrey Zhu

Topic Early-Stage NSCLC

Keywords

biopsy techniques

surgical treatment delay

early-stage lung cancer

time-to-treatment initiation

IELCART study

needle biopsy

bronchoscopy

surgical biopsy

treatment pathway

diagnostic tools