Pre-diagnostic prescribing patterns in dyspnoea patients with as-yet-undiagnosed lung cancer: A longitudinal study of linked primary care and cancer registry data

•Lung cancer symptoms overlap with other conditions, e.g. dyspnoea and COPD.•Increased prescriptions pre-diagnosis can signal opportunities for earlier diagnosis.•Antibiotic, steroid, inhaler, and opioid prescriptions increased pre-diagnosis.•Diagnostic windows of up to 5 months pre-diagnosis were observed.