Insurance status for people in the US with non-metastatic small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) can determine both the type of treatment they are given and their likelihood of survival.
The research, “Barriers to Combined-Modality Therapy for Limited-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer,” was published in the journal JAMA Oncology.
Chemotherapy plus thoracic radiation is standard initial treatment for non-metastatic SCLC. However, barriers such as insurance status — whether private or public — and socioeconomic factors — income, education, and occupation — can limit access to care and all that it means to patients, the study shows.
