A retrospective study of Epidemiology and prognostic factors of small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Abstract Background Lung cancer has been the most common cancer overall for several decades. According to the last data of GLOBOCAN series of the International Agency for Research on Cancer there were estimated 1.8 million new cases in 2012 of which 1.2 million cases estimated to occur in males with lower incidence rate in females about 583,000 cases. Aim of the work This study aims to ascertain retrospectively the epidemiology and prognostic factors of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and also highlights the outcomes in the terms of overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) among Egyptian patients at clinical oncology and nuclear medicine department, Ain Shams university hospitals Results The files of 56 patients with SCLC were reviewed. 17 patients were excluded from analysis due to insufficient data in the files. Among the 39 patients in the study, 32 patients received active treatment, while 2 patients received only WCI as palliative intent, 2 patients received best supportive care treatment as they were not fit for treatment (PS: 3-4) and 3 patients didn’t receive treatment as they lost follow up before starting treatment. Conclusion SCLC is usually diagnosed in advanced stage and No great improvement in survival over the past years, so, health care centres should monitor the efficacy of their management plans by comparing survival outcomes with other centres. Prognostic factors are essential in better understanding the treatment outcome in terms of OS and PFS.