Survival in untreated early stage non-small cell lung cancer.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to determine the survival of untreated stage I and II in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of medical charts of all patients diagnosed with early stage NSCLC, between January 1990 and December 2001, was conducted and patients who were not treated were identified. Data on patient's age, gender, stage of the disease, pathology, reason for non-treatment and cause of death were reviewed.


RESULTS
Thirty-nine patients with untreated stage I and II NSCLC were identified. The median age at diagnosis was 77 years; 66.7% were men and 33.3% were women. All patients were Caucasian and 66.7% had stage I disease, 46.2% had squamous cell carcinoma, while adenocarcinoma was found in 28.2%. The major reason for non treatment was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (64.1%) and the main cause of death was metastatic disease (48.7%). The overall mean survival was 11.9 months. The mean survival at stage I was not statistically different from the mean survival at stage II (13.7 months vs. 8.4 months) (p < 0.12).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with untreated early stages NSCLC have a very poor prognosis. Alternative therapies that are better tolerated should be investigated in these patients with early stage NSCLC who cannot be offered standard treatment.
Chadha
Amandeep S
AS
Department of Internal Medicine, University of North Dakota School of Medicine, Fargo, ND 58102, USA.
Ganti
Apar Kishor
AK
Sohi
Jaideep S
JS
Sahmoun
Abe E
AE
Mehdi
Syed A
SA
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate