Introduction:

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, accounting for 18% of all cancer deaths and representing 11.4% of all cancer cases.

Objective:

To estimate lung cancer survival according to socioeconomic status (SES), health insurance regime (HIR), and residence area (RA) in Manizales.

Methodology:

Population-based survival analysis of incident lung cancer cases from 2008 to 2018 recorded by the Manizales Population-based Cancer Registry. Overall survival (OS) was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method; associations with the variables of interest were analyzed using Cox models.

Results:

There were 577 incident cases analyzed. OS was 11.4% at 60 months, with a median survival time of 5.0 months. An instantaneous risk of death was 50% higher in patients with subsidized HIR.

Discussion:

In Manizales, approximately 9 out of 10 patients have died within five years of diagnosis, a figure consistent with the findings of the CONCORD-3 study. Lower survival rates were observed among patients enrolled in the subsidized health insurance scheme and those from lower socioeconomic strata, reflecting inequities in access to care, diagnostic quality, and lung cancer treatment in Manizales. This situation parallels both national and international contexts, where social determinants may hinder timely access to oncological care, particularly for individuals without the ability to pay or those affiliated with subsidized healthcare systems.

Conclusions:

The OS for lung cancer in Manizales is 9 out of 10 patients who die within 5 years, due to advanced-stage diagnosis, age >65 years, male sex, and low SES. Patients with subsidized HIR are at a higher risk of dying.