Consequences of Referral Time and Volume Doubling Time in Inoperable Patients With Early Stage Lung Cancer

The median referral time was almost 3 months. VDT was considered as fast in almost half of tumors examined. This resulted in significant growth and upstaging in 35% of the tumors, with a significant worse survival if T1 tumors progressed to T2 tumors. Therefore, medically inoperable patients should also be offered a fast workup and referral.