Clinical-epidemiological study on advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

AIM: To assess the clinical and epidemiological features of all three main histological types of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The study included 34 patients with NSCLC admitted to specialized units of the Iasi Regional Cancer Institute (IRCI) in the interval May 2012 - May 2014. Data were collected electronically based on a clinical-epidemiological survey form. The obtained data were then processed and interpreted by statistical-mathematical methods using the correlation index (significant at p < or = 0.05 and highly significant at p < 0.005), chi-square and Y tests. Data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, Illinois, USA).

RESULTS

Most NSCLC patients were aged 56-71 years, the Pearson correlation index between age and diagnosis being p = 0.01. Sex difference was highly significant (p = < 0.001) and so was the relationship between heavy smoking and age groups. Most cases were histogenetically classified as adenocarcinomas (22%). Four patients (21%) were in stage IIIA NSCLC, 4 (21%) IIIB, 9 (47.3%) IV, and 15 (79%) unspecified stage. All patients received primary chemotherapy. Single or associated complications included anemia and other hematologic disorders (26-74.6%), respiratory failure, hemoptysis, cachexia, atelectasis, etc. Surgery was performed in 5 (14.7%) stage IIIA NSCLC patients.

CONCLUSIONS

NSCLC showed a highly significant predominance in the age groups 56-71 years, and the most common histologic type was adenocarcinoma. All patients received primary chemotherapy, and patients with stage IIIA underwent surgery. Anemia and other hematologic disorders were the most common complications.