Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and the Roudebush Veterans Administration Medical Center said the lack of primary care utilization in the first six months following lung cancer diagnosis had a marked effect on survival, even when controlling for extent of the disease.

The researchers analyzed electronic medical record data of 323 male veterans diagnosed with lung cancer and found a median survival rate was 3.68 months for those without primary care utilization.

However, this increased by a factor of more than four if the patient had at least three primary care visits during the first six months following cancer diagnosis, said Dr. Carney Doebbeling of the Indiana University School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute.

The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.