Impact of mild to moderate COPD on feasibility and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer patients who received chemotherapy.

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the predominant cause of death in patients with COPD, and the severity of COPD in NSCLC patients is classified mainly as mild to moderate. Most advanced NSCLC patients with mild to moderate COPD are treated with chemotherapy; however, the feasibility for and prognosis after chemotherapy of these patients are not well understood. The aim of this study was to elucidate the impact of mild to moderate COPD on the feasibility for and prognosis after chemotherapy in NSCLC patients.

Patients and methods: A retrospective review was performed on 268 NSCLC patients who received first-line chemotherapy from 2009 to 2014 in our institution. Finally, 85 evaluable patients were included in this study. The clinical characteristics, toxicity profile, objective response rate, and prognosis were analyzed and compared between patients with mild to moderate COPD and those without COPD (non-COPD).

Results: Forty-three patients were classified as COPD (27 cases mild and 16 cases moderate) and 42 patients as non-COPD. The COPD group were older and had fewer never-smokers than the non-COPD group. The objective response rate did not differ between groups ( p =0.14). There was no significant difference in overall survival between COPD and non-COPD groups (15.0 and 17.0 months, log-rank test p =0.57). In the multivariate Cox's proportional hazard model, the adjusted hazard ratio (HRadj) was statistically significant for male sex (HRadj =5.382, 95% CI: 1.496-19.359; p =0.010), pathological diagnosis of adenocarcinoma (HRadj =0.460, 95% CI: 0.223-0.948; p =0.035), and epithelial growth factor receptor negative mutation (HRadj =6.040, 95% CI: 1.158-31.497; p =0.033), but not for the presence of COPD (HRadj =0.661, 95% CI: 0.330-1.325; p =0.24). Toxicity profile in COPD group was favorable, as in the non-COPD group.

Conclusion: Mild to moderate COPD did not have a significant deleterious impact on toxicity and prognosis in NSCLC patients.