title: Predictive ability of Charlson comorbidity index on outcomes from lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The effect of age and/or comorbidities on management decisions in lung cancer patients has been debated. The Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was developed to help predict mortality from chronic medical conditions. This study was undertaken to evaluate whether CCI is correlated with survival in lung cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review of 617 lung cancer patients diagnosed between 1994 and 2007 was conducted. CCI was calculated for each patient with and without the inclusion of age. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between CCI and survival while adjusting for other prognostic factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six patients were excluded from the final analysis due to missing outcome or comorbidity data. The median age at diagnosis was 64 years (range, 16-89 y). Five hundred fourteen patients (84%) had nonsmall cell lung cancer and 97 patients (16%) had small cell lung cancer. Using multivariate analysis, no correlation was found between CCI and risk of death whether or not age was included in the index score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CCI did not provide predictive validity for survival of lung cancer patients. Development of accurate and predictive prognostic models to help estimate a patient's prognosis is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology/Hematology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha. aganti@unmc.edu
authors.forename: Apar Kishor
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ganti
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Siedlik
authors.forename: Alissa S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Marr
authors.forename: Fausto R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Loberiza
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kessinger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult