Patients diagnosed with lung cancer manifest signs and symptoms recorded in the EHR that differentiate
them from similarly matched patients in ambulatory care, often 6 months or more prior to diagnosis,
according to a study published in BMJ Open. Matthew J. Thompson, DPhil, MPH, and colleagues conducted
their research in ambulatory care clinics at a large tertiary care academic health center between
January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2019. Included in the study were 698 adults with lung cancer and 6,841
controls matched by sex, age, smoking status, and clinic type. From 2 years prior to diagnosis date for
cases and index date for controls, researchers extracted coded and free-text data from the EHR. During
the study period, 11 symptoms and signs were linked with a significantly higher chance of being a lung
cancer case in multivariable analyses. Of these, seven were significantly correlated with lung cancer 6
months prior to diagnosis. “These findings suggest opportunities to improve the diagnostic process for
lung cancer,” the study authors wrote.
