Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Women: A Distinct Entity?

Abstract

Aim: Lung cancer is one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths in both sexes and increasing worldwide. In many studies this increase in incidence and mortality was related to the sex, tumor type and clinical characteristics of the patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in clinical features and the prognostic factors in our female patients with NSCLC. Methods: We retropectively analyzed the records of our 893 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from 2005 to 2012. Of these, 773 were male (86.5%) and 120 were female (13.5%) patients. The data included demographic information, histologic classification, clinical staging, presenting symptoms and treatment modalities. Survival was estimated by using KaplanMeier method and prognostic factors were evaluated with log-rank and Cox regression tests. Results: The median age of the female patients was 60.6. The percent of the male and female patients that had a smoking history was 89.6% and 44.9%, respectively. Most common tumor type in female patients was adenocarcinoma (32.7%) and in male patients was squamos cell carcinoma (34.0%). The median survival time for female patients was 13.7 months and for the male patients it was 10.9 months (p>0.05). In univariate analysis, age, weight loss, combination therapy and PS correlated with a better OS for female patients. In multivariate analysis, only good PS showed consistency with survival for women. Conclusion: NSCLC in women is different in women as compared with men. Women are more likely to develop adenocarcinoma of the lung and have more favorable prognosis. A more through understanding of the NSCLC in women may lead to new treatment and prevention strategies.