Thematic Poster : TP-66 ; Dyspnea as an Independent Prognostic Factor in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer = Thematic Poster : TP-66 ; Dyspnea as an Independent Prognostic Factor in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most fatal cancers worldwide. Age, performance status and stage are well-known prognostic factors for patients with NSCLC. Dyspnea is a common and distressing symptom in patients with NSCLC, however, the prognostic value of dyspnea remains uncertain. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a prospective lung cancer database of St. Paul’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, from 2001 to 2014. Dyspnea using mMRC scales and clinicopathologic parameters were analyzed to identity their prognostic roles. Results: Total 457 NSCLC patients were enrolled, 259 (56.7%) patients complained of dyspnea at initial presentation. Except 109 (42.1%) patients with unknown mMRC scales, there were 85 (32.8%) patients with mMRC grade 0 or 1, and 65 (25.1%) patients had mMRC grade 2 or higher. Pulmonary function parameters were significantly decreased in patients with dyspnea, compared to those without dyspnea. The median survival for patients with dyspnea was shorter than those without dyspnea (7 vs. 15 months, p ＜ .001). A significant difference in median survival was also found between patients with mMRC grade 0 or 1 and those with mMRC grade 2 or higher (11 vs. 6 months, p ＜ .001). In multivariate analysis, age (HR, 1.60; 95% CI: 1.20-2.14), poor performance status (HR, 3.67; 95% CI: 2.34-5.77), advanced stage (HR, 2.85; 95% CI: 1.93-4.22), FEV1 level (HR, 0.99; 95% CI: 0.99-1.00) and dyspnea of mMRC grade 2 or higher (HR, 1.89; 95% CI: 1.32-2.70) were associated with poor outcome. Conclusions: These results suggest dyspnea could be an independent prognostic factor for patients with NSCLC. Therefore, clinicians are required to pay more attention to NSCLC patients’ complaining of dyspnea, individually.