Brief Article
Copyright ©2013 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Respirol. Nov 28, 2013; 3(3): 110-115
Published online Nov 28, 2013. doi: 10.5320/wjr.v3.i3.110
Long-term survival of more than 3 years among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with chemotherapy
Rieko Kaira, Kyoichi Kaira, Takehito Shukuya, Hirotsugu Kenmotsu, Akira Ono, Haruyasu Murakami, Asuka Tsuya, Yukiko Nakamura, Tateaki Naito, Masahiro Endo, Nobuyuki Yamamoto, Toshiaki Takahashi
Rieko Kaira, Kyoichi Kaira, Takehito Shukuya, Hirotsugu Kenmotsu, Akira Ono, Haruyasu Murakami, Asuka Tsuya, Yukiko Nakamura, Tateaki Naito, Nobuyuki Yamamoto, Toshiaki Takahashi, Division of Thoracic Oncology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka 411-8777, Japan
Masahiro Endo, Division of Diagnostic Radiology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka 411-8777, Japan
Author contributions: Kaira R and Kaira K designed the study, acquired patient data, and drafted the manuscript; Shukuya T, Kenmotsu H, Ono A, Murakami H, Tsuya A, Nakamura Y, Naito T and Endo M collected and reviewed patient information; Yamamoto N provided advice on patient management; Takahashi T made critical revisions to the manuscript; all the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to: Kyoichi Kaira, MD, Division of Thoracic Oncology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka 411-8777, Japan. kkaira1970@yahoo.co.jp
Telephone: +81-55-9895222 Fax: +81-55-9895634
Received: July 19, 2013
Revised: September 25, 2013
Accepted: October 11, 2013
Published online: November 28, 2013
Processing time: 136 Days and 17.4 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the prognostic factors of long-term survival of more than 3 years in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 474 patients with advanced IIIB/IV NSCLC who received chemotherapy as initial treatment between September 2002 and March 2007.

RESULTS: The median survival time (MST) was 12.5 mo and the 3 year and 5 year survival rates were 14.6% and 5.3%, respectively. Long-term survival of more than 3 and 5 years was observed in 65 and 16 patients, respectively. The MST for the 65 patients was 61.5 mo (range, 60.1-81.0 mo). In the 474 patients, a good performance status (PS), female sex, non-smoking status and adenocarcinoma histology were significantly associated with a favorable outcome. Furthermore, female sex, a good PS, non-smoking status and adenocarcinoma histology were significantly correlated with long-term survival of more than 3 years and most of these patients (89.2%, 58/65) received epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors as any line treatment. Survival analysis of long-term survivors showed that a PS of 0 was an independent prognostic factor for predicting favorable outcomes.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that a good PS and adenocarcinoma histology play an important role in long-term survival of more than 3 years. A PS of 0 was an independent prognostic factor for predicting favorable outcomes in patients with advanced NSCLC who survived for more than 3 years.

Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer; Long-term survivor; Chemotherapy; Performance status; Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Core tip: The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic factors of long-term survival of more than 3 years in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Female sex, good performance status (PS), non-smoker and adenocarcinoma were significantly associated with long-term survivors of more than 3 years and most patients received epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI) at any line treatment. PS of 0 was an independent prognostic factor for predicting favorable prognosis in the long-term survivors of more than 3 years. PS of 0, adenocarcinoma and EGFR-TKI therapy play an important role in the long-term survivors.