Survival inequalities in patients with lung cancer in France: A nationwide cohort study (the TERRITOIRE Study)

The French healthcare system is a universal healthcare system with no financial barrier to access to health services and cancer drugs. The objective of the study is to investigate associations between, on the one hand, incidence and survival of patients diagnosed with lung cancer in France and, on the other, the socioeconomic deprivation and population density of their municipality of residence. A national, longitudinal analysis using data from the French National Hospital database crossed with the population density of the municipality and a social deprivation index based on census data aggregated at the municipality level. For lung cancer diagnosed at the metastatic stage, one-year and two-year survival was not associated with the population density of the municipality of residence. In contrast, mortality was higher for people living in very deprived, deprived and privileged areas compared to very privileged areas (hazard ratios at two years: 1.19 [1.13-1.25], 1.14 [1.08-1.20] and 1.10 [1.04-1.16] respectively). Similar associations are also observed in patients diagnosed with non-metastatic disease (hazard ratios at two years: 1.21 [1.13-1.30], 1.15 [1.08-1.23] and 1.10 [1.03-1.18] for people living in very deprived, deprived and privileged areas compared to very privileged areas). Despite a universal healthcare coverage, survival inequalities in patients with lung cancer can be observed in France with respect to certain socioeconomic indicators.