{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T01:08:37Z","timestamp":1768266517766,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,4]],"date-time":"2021-06-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"AstraZeneca Portugal"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"\nBackground<\/jats:title>\nWe aimed to identify the perception of physicians on the limitations and delays for diagnosing, staging and treatment of lung cancer in Portugal.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n\nMethods<\/jats:title>\nPortuguese physicians were invited to participate an electronic survey (Feb-Apr-2020). Descriptive statistical analyses were performed, with categorical variables reported as absolute and relative frequencies, and continuous variables with non-normal distribution as median and interquartile range (IQR). The association between categorical variables was assessed through Pearson\u2019s chi-square test. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare categorical and continuous variables (Stata v.15.0).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n\nResults<\/jats:title>\nSixty-one physicians participated in the study (45 pulmonologists, 16 oncologists), with n = 26 exclusively assisting lung cancer patients. Most experts work in public hospitals (90.16%) in Lisbon (36.07%). During the last semester of 2019, responders performed a median of 85 (IQR 55\u2013140) diagnoses of lung cancer. Factors preventing faster referral to the specialty included poor articulation between services (60.0%) and patients low economic\/cultural level (44.26%). Obtaining National Drugs Authority authorization was one of the main reasons (75.41%) for delaying the begin of treatment. The cumulative lag-time from patients\u2019 admission until treatment ranged from 42\u201361 days. Experts believe that the time to diagnosis could be optimized in around 11.05 days [IQR 9.61\u201312.50]. Most physicians (88.52%) started treatment before biomarkers results motivated by performance status deterioration (65.57%) or high tumor burden (52.46%). Clinicians exclusively assisting lung cancer cases reported fewer delays for obtaining authorization for biomarkers analysis (p = 0.023). Higher waiting times for surgery (p = 0.001), radiotherapy (p = 0.004), immunotherapy (p = 0.003) were reported by professionals from public hospitals.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n\nConclusions<\/jats:title>\nPhysicians believe that is possible to reduce delays in all stages of lung cancer diagnosis with further efforts from multidisciplinary teams and hospital administration.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0252529","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,4]],"date-time":"2021-06-04T17:26:49Z","timestamp":1622827609000},"page":"e0252529","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Fernando","family":"Barata","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Paula","family":"Fidalgo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Figueiredo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4262-8608","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Fernanda S.","family":"Tonin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Filipa","family":"Duarte-Ramos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,4]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0252529.ref001","article-title":"Global Epidemiology of Lung Cancer","volume":"85","author":"JA Barta","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ann Glob Health"},{"key":"pone.0252529.ref002","article-title":"Progress in cancer mortality, incidence, and survival: a global overview","author":"C Santucci","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur J Cancer Prev"},{"key":"pone.0252529.ref003","unstructured":"The Global Cancer Observatory. 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