Impact of travel burden on clinical outcomes in lung cancer

Purpose Our study explores the influence of travel burden (measured as travel distance and travel time) on clinical outcomes in lung cancer patients. Methods A retrospective analysis of a single Bulgarian center was performed. A total of 9240 lung cancer patients were included in the study. Travel distance and travel time between patients’ city of residence and the treating facility were calculated with an online tool to determine the shortest route for travel using the existing road network. The probability of survival was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method, and differences in survival in each subgroup were evaluated with a log-rank test. Results About one third of all included patients were living in the same city as the treating facility ( n = 2746, 29.7%). Overall survival in our patient population was significantly lower with increasing travel distance ( p