Rural‐urban survival disparities for patients with surgically treated lung cancer

Background Nonsmall‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common diagnosis among patients living in rural areas and small towns who face unique challenges accessing care. We examined differences in survival for surgically treated rural and small‐town patients compared to those from urban and metropolitan areas. Methods The National Cancer Database was used to identify surgically treated NSCLC patients from 2004 to 2016. Patients from rural/small‐town counties were compared to urban/metro counties. Differences in patient clinical, sociodemographic, hospital, and travel characteristics were described. Survival differences were examined with Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models. Results The study included 366 373 surgically treated NSCLC patients with 12.4% (n = 45 304) categorized as rural/small‐town. Rural/small‐town patients traveled farther for treatment and were from areas characterized by lower income and education(all p