Early mortality in lung cancer: French prospective multicentre observational study.

BACKGROUND: Despite the progress seen in the last decade in diagnosis and treatment, lung cancer has still a bad prognosis and a substantial number of patients died within the weeks following diagnosis. The objective of this study was to quantify early mortality in lung cancer, to identify patients who are at high risk of early decease, and to describe their management in a real world. METHODS: Prospective observational study including consecutively all adult patients managed for primary lung cancer histologically or cytologically diagnosed in 2010 in the respiratory medicine department of one of the participating French general hospitals. Patients and cancer characteristics and first therapeutic strategy were collected at diagnosis. Dates of death were obtained from investigators or town council of the patient's birth place. All fatal cases were considered regardless of the cause of the death. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine the factors significantly and independently associated with death at 1 and 3 months. RESULTS: Seven thousand fifty-one patients from 104 centres were included in the study. Vital status was obtained for 6,981 patients. Respectively, 678 (9.7%) and 1,621 (23.2%) of the 6,981 patients with available data died within 1 and 3 months following diagnosis. As compared with the other patients, they were significantly older and frailer (based on performance status [PS] and recent weight loss) and more frequently reported stage IV tumour. Overall, 64.5% (1 month) and 42.8% (3 months) of patients had no cancer therapy and less than 1% were included in a therapeutic trial. CONCLUSION: About one in four patients died within 3 months following lung cancer diagnosis. Early mortality mainly involves frail patients with advanced cancer and is associated with lack of cancer therapy. This supports the need for early diagnosis and clinical trials in this population. Reducing early mortality to give supplementary time to patients to organise the future is a major challenge for 21(st) century physicians.

Early variations of circulating interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 levels during thoracic radiotherapy are predictive for radiation pneumonitis.

PURPOSE: To investigate variations of circulating serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) during three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and correlate these variations with the occurrence of radiation pneumonitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-six patients receiving 3D-CRT for stage I to III disease were evaluated prospectively. Circulating cytokine levels were determined before, every 2 weeks during, and at the end of treatment. Radiation pneumonitis was evaluated prospectively between 6 and 8 weeks after 3D-CRT. The predictive value of clinical, dosimetric, and biologic (cytokine levels) factors was evaluated both in univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Forty patients (44%) experienced score 1 or more radiation pneumonitis. No association was found between baseline cytokine levels and the risk of radiation pneumonitis. In the whole population, mean levels of TNFalpha, IL-6, and IL-10 remained stable during radiotherapy. IL-6 levels were significantly higher (P = .047) during 3D-CRT in patients with radiation pneumonitis. In the multivariate analysis, covariations of IL-6 and IL-10 levels during the first 2 weeks of 3D-CRT were evidenced as independently predictive of radiation pneumonitis in this series (P = .011). CONCLUSION: Early variations of circulating IL-6 and IL-10 levels during 3D-CRT are significantly associated with the risk of radiation pneumonitis. Variations of circulating IL-6 and IL-10 levels during 3D-CRT may serve as independent predictive factors for this complication.