Evaluation of the Simplified Comorbidity Score (Colinet) as a prognostic indicator for patients with lung cancer: a cancer registry study.
BACKGROUND
A Simplified Comorbidity Score (SCS) provided additional prognostic information to the established factors in patients with non-small cell lung cancer lung cancer. We undertook this analysis to test the prognostic value of the SCS in a population-based study.


METHODS
Retrospective survey of all Victorians diagnosed with lung cancer in January-June 2003, identified from the Victorian Cancer Registry.


RESULTS
There were 921 patients, with data available for 841 (91.3%). Median age was 72 years (range 30-94) and 63.1% were male. A tissue diagnosis was made for 89.9%, of which 86.6% were non-small cell (NSCLC), and 13.4% small cell carcinoma (SCLC). Comorbidities on which the SCS is based were distributed: cardiovascular 54.6%; respiratory 38.9%; neoplastic 19.9%; renal 4.6%; diabetes 11.7%; alcoholism 5.5%; and tobacco 83.1%. In patients with NSCLC, higher SCS score (>9) was associated with increasing stage, ECOG performance status, male sex, increasing age, tobacco consumption and not receiving treatment. Using Cox regression, survival was analysed by SCS score after adjusting for the effect of age, sex, cell type (NSCLC, SCLC, no histology), ECOG performance status and stage for all patients and then restricted to NSCLC. As a continuous or dichotomous (≤ or >9) variable, SCS was not a significant prognostic factor for all patients or when restricted to NSCLC.


CONCLUSIONS
In this retrospective analysis of population based registry patients, SCS did not provide additional prognostic information in patients with lung cancer. ECOG performance status may be a substitute for the effect of comorbidity.
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: david.ball@petermac.org.
David
D
Ball
Vicky
V
Thursfield
Louis
L
Irving
Paul
P
Mitchell
Gary
G
Richardson
Yvonne
Y
Torn-Broers
Gavin
G
Wright
Graham
G
Giles
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies
Comorbidity; Non-small cell lung cancer; Prognostic factors; Small cell lung cancer