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M. Oechsli
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ORAL 30 - Community Practice (ID 141)
- Event: WCLC 2015
- Type: Oral Session
- Track: Community Practice
- Presentations: 1
- Moderators:P.S.S. Kho, R. Jotte
- Coordinates: 9/08/2015, 16:45 - 18:15, Mile High Ballroom 2c-3c
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ORAL30.02 - Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Patients with a High Comorbidity Index (ID 496)
16:56 - 17:07 | Author(s): M. Oechsli
- Abstract
- Presentation
Background:
Lung cancer has the highest cancer mortality. The life expectancy of untreated NSCLC is dismal, while treatment for NSCLC improves survival. However, the perceived outcome of NSCLC therapy in general is less favorable compared to other types of solid tumors. The presence of comorbidities is thought to play a significant role on the decision to treat or not-to-treat a given patient. We aimed to evaluate the impact of comorbidities on the survival of patients treated for NSCLC.
Methods:
As part of Kentucky's LEADS Collaborative, we identified NSCLC patients older than 65 years between 2007 and 2011 on the SEER Kentucky Cancer Registry (KCR). We linked the SEER KCR data with Medicare claims data for therapies provided (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy) for patients who had Medicare PART A and B coverage, had no HMO coverage 12 months prior to their cancer diagnosis, and had the lung cancer as the first primary cancer. Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was assigned to each patient based on the linked Medicare data. Kaplan-Meier estimates were plotted. Log-Rank test was used to compare survival estimates. Data on age, sex, CCI, stage, and type of therapy received were included in univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses.
Results:
Between 2007 and 2011, we identified 3905 patients for analysis. The population was Caucasian in 95% and African American in 4.6%. 54.4% were male. There were 2336 patients (59.8%) between ages 66 and 75. 770 patients (19.7%) did not receive any surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or any combination of these modalities. The proportion of untreated patient per stage was 9.45% for Stage I, 4.35% for Stage II, 20.76% for Stage III and 26.7% for Stage IV. The median overall survival was 41 months for stage I, 22 months for stage II, 10.5 months for stage III and 4.1 months for stage IV (Log-rank test, P < 0.001) In the survival analysis, treatment for NSCLC resulted in significantly better survival (LR, P < 0.05), for patients that have no comorbidity burden (CCI score of 0), for those who have a low burden of comorbidities (CCI score of 1-2) as well as for those patients that had a significant comorbidity burden (CCI score of 3 or more). The better survival of patients with high burden of comorbidities who received treatment for their disease was consistently observed on Stage I (HR 0.31, 95% CI 0.20-0.48); Stage III (HR 0.27, 95% CI 0.18-0.40) and Stage IV (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.34-0.62). The multivariate analysis confirms the established factors that negatively impact survival (older age, being male, higher stage, higher grade, and no treatment).
Conclusion:
Undertreatment of lung cancer has many causes, but misconceptions about patients being eligible for treatment play a significant role. The presented SEER-Medicare data demonstrates a significant survival benefit from NSCLC therapy even in those patients with a high burden of comorbidities. The data supports the consideration for therapy even when the comorbidity burden is perceived as high. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of optimal comorbidities management on lung cancer outcomes.
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