The Effect of COPD Presence, Quality of Life and Nutritional Status on ShortTerm Survival in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association of survival with nutritional status, comorbidity and life quality of patients with locally advanced and advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) coexisting with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients and methods: This study was performed with 64 patients (6 female, 58 male) diagnosed with locally advanced and advanced NSCLC from March to August 2015. Demographic features of the patients were evaluated with Mini Nutritional Test (MNT), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), Fat Free Mass Index (FFMI), Nutritional risk screening (NRS 2002), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Quality of Life (QOL) Group (EORTC-QLQ-C30). The association of those scales’ results with survival was analyzed. Results: Of the patients, 34.4% (n=22) had the diagnosis of COPD. A significant relationship between the presence of COPD and survival was not detected. According to NRS 2002, 33% of the patients were under the risk of nutritional deficiency. According to MNT, 18.8% of the patients showed the presence of malnutrition. According to CCI, the patients were in low, moderate and high-risk groups respectively 57.8%, 37.5% and 4.7%. FFMI averages of the survivors and ex ones were 19.74 kg/m2 and 18.10 kg/m2, respectively. After 6 monthfollow up, 25% of the patients died. In the univariate analyses, MNT (p=0.000), NRS 2002 (p=0.000) and FFMI (p=0.012) were associated with survival. According to the EORTC-QLQ-C30 scale, performance status, functional scale, physical, occupational, social function values and symptom scores were associated with survival. Conclusion: In the study, when nutritional status was evaluated with FFMI and life quality scales, the result was detected to be associated with survival. On the other hand, whether or not the patient was diagnosed with COPD, histological type of cancer, stage of the disease, metastasis sites and CCI were not detected to be associated with survival.Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, survival