Five year survival for lung cancer patients managed in general hospitals

Introduction In 2000 the College of Pulmonologists of General Hospitals undertook an epidemiological study (KBP-2000-CPHG) enrolling all new cases of histologically confirmed lung cancer managed in general hospitals. This paper reports the five year survival in these cases. Methods Vital status was available for 5447 out of 5667 patients included in the original study. The effect of different prognostic factors on mortality was assessed. Results At 5 years 567 patients (10.4 %) were still alive. Median survival for the 4880 (89.6 %) deceased patients was 7 months. Univariate analysis identified age, smoking history, performance status, histological type and disease stage (TMN classification) as determinants of survival. For non-small cell lung cancer (n=4885) multivariate analysis identified five predictive factors for mortality - age, gender histological type, performance status and stage. Conclusions Five year survival in lung cancer continues to be poor. As the risk factors for poor outcome at the time of diagnosis are not modifiable and pending the results of screening studies reduction in mortality must rest on primary prevention.