The aim of this study was to determine the delay between clinical suspicion and diagnosis of bronchogenic carcinoma, and between diagnosis and performance of therapeutic thoracotomy. The study population included 598 patients undergoing surgery between October 1995 and September 1996 registered in the Bronchogenic Carcinoma Cooperation Group of SEPAR (BCCG-S), and 49 patients from our hospital undergoing surgery during the same period. The mean delay between diagnosis and thoracotomy was 45.15 days (SD 34.7 days) for BCCG-S patients and 53.5 days (SD 22 days) for our hospital patients. In the second group, mean time elapsing between diagnosis suspicion and performance of bronchoscopy was known to be 9.5 days (SD 14.7 days), with the lowest periods recorded for inpatients (3.1 +/- 1.7 days) and for patients who did not require chest x ray guided bronchoscopy (5 +/- 5.8 days). These data are similar to those published for hospitals in other countries. They must be considered long delays and should be shortened.