title: Postoperative survival of lung cancer patients: are there predictors beyond TNM?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We report on survival data of 595 patients with stage I-III lung cancer with respect to TNM classification.
  
  
  METHODS
  We constructed a basic model consisting of stage and grade, and assessed the improvement of survival prediction after adding comorbidity data, spirometric data, clinical and laboratory parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Body mass index (BMI) and presence of a cardiac disease reached statistical significance for prediction of overall survival in a Cox regression model. In addition to BMI (<25 kg/m(2)) and the presence of cardiovascular disease, the spirometric variable (FEV1) predicted early death (less than five months postoperatively). When the survival random forest method was employed to predict disease outcome, creatinine levels and VO2 max became additional variables of interest for predicting survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We propose that our lung cancer database may help to identify variables (aside from histomorphological variables) that are suitable for identifying patients at risk of death after surgical treatment of lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Klinik Schillerhöhe Center for Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery, Gerlingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Godehard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Friedel
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fritz
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goletz
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kristen
authors.forename: Friedhelm
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brinkmann
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dierkesmann
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: German
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dippon
authors.forename: Mark Dominik
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Alscher
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002282:Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003404:Creatinine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D003404:Creatinine; D010100:Oxygen