7^th International Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Conference

Background: Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The delay in diagnosis of lung cancer worsens prognosis of the disease. Reducing diagnostic delay could reduce mortality.

Aim: The purpose of the study was to define factors associated with a delay of lung cancer diagnostics.

Methods: Medical reports of 55 patients with lung cancer were analyzed. Clinical presentation, radiological, laboratory data of all patients was collected. Odds ratios (OR) and nominal 95% confidence intervals (CI) were presented.

Results: Mean age of patients 58.4±13.8 yrs. Men in the study were 37 (67%). The period from the disease manifestation up to making a true diagnosis was 90.4±77.3 days, patients delay was 32±38 days. 44% of the patients were previously treated of an assumed pneumonia before hospitalization in TB hospital. All patients have been hospitalized with wrong diagnosis of pulmonary TB, a principal cause-misinterpretation of chest radiogram. 48% of lung cancer patients mistakenly treated for TB for a long time. Factors associated with increase of diagnostic delay were: acute onset of the disease (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2–0.8), fever (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2–0.8), absence of symptoms (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1–0.9), absence of hematological changes (OR: 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1–0.7), nonspecific microbial growth in sputum (OR: 0.1, 95% CI: 0.01–0.7) and detection of acid-fast bacillus (AFB) in sputum (OR: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.06–0.7). Factors associated with decrease of diagnostic delay were also found.

Conclusions: Before the establishment of a true diagnosis, patients with lung cancer had over diagnosis of tuberculosis and community-acquired pneumonia. It can be said that diagnosis requires histological confirmation.