The impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on survival of the patients with small-cell lung cancer

Abstract

Background: Even though there are growing interests in the correlation between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-small cell lung cancer, studies regarding the interaction between COPD and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) are pretty rare. This study was aimed to compare the survival of patients with SCLC according to the presence of COPD. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients (n=122) with SCLC who received chemotherapy from July 2006 until April 2014. The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between spirometry-diagnosed COPD and non-COPD group were compared. Predictors for poorer survival were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: COPD was present in 64 (52.5%) out of 122 patients with SCLC. The median OS time was 12.7 in COPD group and 11.2 months in non-COPD group (log-rank test, p = 0.305). The median PFS time was 7.5 and 6.9 months in each group, respectively (log-rank test, p = 0.18). After multivariate analysis, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status ≥ 2 and extensive stage of SCLC were independent risk factors for shorter OS, but coexisting COPD was not predictor of survival. Conclusions: COPD coexist over half of the patients with SCLC. But coexistent COPD doesn9t influence on the mortality of the patients with SCLC receiving chemotherapy in this study.