Staging in untreated patients with small cell lung cancer

Neoplasma. 2001;48(2):154-6.

Abstract

In order to describe the real biological behavior of the small-cell lung cancer we have analyzed survival rates of 66 patients with small-cell lung cancer who did not receive any specific anti cancer therapy. Also, objective of this study was to evaluate the staging system of the small-cell lung cancer. Untreated small-cell lung cancer patients with limited stage disease had statistically significant (p < 0.05) better survival rates in comparison to patients with extensive stage disease. T and N factor of the TNM classification did not influence the survival in untreated small-cell lung cancer patients. It appears that the TNM staging system is not predicting survival probabilities of untreated patients with small-cell lung cancer, while the two-stage system appeared very well based on survival probabilities of these patients.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Carcinoma, Small Cell / mortality
  • Carcinoma, Small Cell / pathology*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / mortality
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Staging / methods*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prognosis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survival Analysis
  • Survival Rate
  • Time Factors