title: Atelectasis: positive or negative prognostic factor on outcome of patients with non-small cell lung cancer?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of atelectasis (AT) on overall survival of patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  the study included patients of both sexes with unresectable stage III and IV NSCLC with good performance status (PS) (ECOG ≤ 2). Patients were divided into two groups: with AT (AT+) and without AT (AT-): Factors analyzed included sex, age, histologic type, ECOG performance status, stage of disease and treatment modality. Overall survival was estimated according to Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate analysis was used to identify independent prognostic factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  we evaluated 247 patients (83% males and 17% females); 47/247 (19%) of patients belonged to AT+ group. In this group 21% of patients had stage IIIA, 46% IIIB stage, and 33% IV stage. Overall survival was significantly longer in the AT+ group (15.23 vs. 9.03 months, p=0.001). AT+ patients in stages III and IV had significantly longer overall survival than AT- patients in the same stages (p=0.001, p=0.002, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that atelectasis (p=0.001), stage of disease (p=0.001), and treatment modality (p=0.005) were independent prognostic factors associated with survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  atelectasis is favorable prognostic factor concerning overall survival in patients with NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemotherapy, Institute of Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, Medical Faculty, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. occiput5@yahoo.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tepavac
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Secen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sazdanic Velikic
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Popovic
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Perin
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D001261:Pulmonary Atelectasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate