Impact of interstitial lung disease on survival for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
BACKGROUND
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) and lung cancer are two of the most common respiratory diseases. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the prognostic significance of presence of ILD in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


METHODS
All the patients with NSCLC who were admitted to our hospitals over a 23-year period up to 2008 were retrospectively analyzed.


RESULTS
During the study period, 2,165 NSCLC patients were consecutively admitted to our hospitals. Among them, 53 (2.4%) patients were diagnosed as having both NSCLC and ILD. In uni- and multivariate analysis, female gender, early stage, good PS, and surgery were favorable prognostic factors. The presence of ILD was confirmed as an unfavorable prognostic factor.


CONCLUSIONS
Existing ILD adversely affects the outcome of NSCLC. When deciding whether or not to offer a standard therapy which may increase treatment-related mortality, the patient's medical condition, including ILD, should be taken into consideration.
Miyazaki
Kunihiko
K
Division of Respiratory Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba-city, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan.
Satoh
Hiroaki
H
Kurishima
Koichi
K
Nakamura
Ryota
R
Ishikawa
Hiroichi
H
Kagohashi
Katsunori
K
Ohara
Gen
G
Hizawa
Nobuyuki
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged