EDITOR—The reasons for Pollock and Vickers's findings about the relation between deprivation and emergency admissions for cancers remain speculative.1 To impute the differences in care to failures of primary care seems unfair at this stage. The authors discuss a range of possible explanations, but many other could also be relevant.

Day case treatment may require a certain level of facilities at home that are less commonly available in deprived areas. The presence of another adult at home may also be a prerequisite. Single people may be more likely to live in deprived areas; patients from deprived areas may be more likely to have a working partner who cannot afford to take time off work or who has a job where such absences would be unacceptable.

Patients with lung cancer due to …