A cross-sectional observation study regarding patients and their physician willingness to wait for driver mutation report in nonsmall-cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Palliative chemotherapy +/− targeted therapy in accordance with mutation profile is the norm in nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The objective of this audit was to determine the proportion of patients and physicians, who are unwilling to wait for the mutation report and the reasons thereof. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All newly diagnosed NSCLC patients, post biopsy, seen at our center between November 2014 and January 2015 were included. The relationship between patient and physician decision and objective factors was explored by Fisher's exact test. The factors considered were Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS), the presence of a cough, hemoptysis, fatigue, and breathlessness. The agreement between patients and physician decision was tested by contingency table. RESULTS: Out of 168 patients, 57 were unwilling to wait for driver mutation report (33.9% 95% confidence interval [CI] 27.2-41.4%). The most common reason provided by patients was symptomatic status (23, 40.1%). No other objective factor except PS (P = 0.00) was associated with patient's decision. In 56 patients (33.4% 95% CI 26.6-40.7%), physicians were unwilling to wait. Among the tested factors ECOG PS (P = 0.000), breathlessness (P = 0.00) and fatigue (P = 0.00) were associated with the decision of not waiting for the report. The percentage corrected value of contingency between patients and physician decision was 78.74%. CONCLUSION: At present, in our setup, nearly one-third of our NSCLC patients opt for immediate chemotherapy treatment and are unwilling to wait for mutation analysis report. The major reasons for such attitude is poor symptom control and deteriorating general condition.