Lin J, et al. - Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in the US military health system (MHS) were compared with the US general population in terms of survival. Findings suggested that among NSCLC patients, the MHS's universal care and lung cancer care programs may have led to improved survival.

Methods

• Researchers used The Department of Defense's (DoD) Automated Central Tumor Registry (ACTUR) and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program to obtain the MHS data and the US population data, respectively.
• This study included NSCLC patients diagnosed between January 1, 1987 and December 31, 2012 in ACTUR, and a sample of SEER patients who were matched to the ACTUR patients on age group, sex, race, and year of diagnosis with a matching ratio of 1:4.
• A follow-up was performed through December 31, 2013.

Results

• Data showed that a total of 16,257 NSCLC patients were identified from ACTUR and 65,028 matched patients from SEER.
• Significantly better overall survival (log-rank P < 0.001) was seen in ACTUR patients vs SEER patients.
• Even after adjustment for potential confounders, the ACTUR patients continued to exhibit better overall survival (HR = 0.78, 95% confidence interval, 0.76–0.81).
• Regardless of cancer stage, grade, age group, sex, or race, the ACTUR patients showed survival advantage.