Lung cancer in Fujian Province, China (2009-2012): A single-institute retrospective study

There are distinct regional differences among lung cancer patients in China. This retrospective study sought to determine the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of lung cancer patients in Fujian Province, China. We conducted the study between January 2009 and August 2012 in Fujian Provincial Hospital. Patients were eligible if they had been diagnosed pathologically or cytologically with primary lung cancer. We extracted the following information from their medical records: sex, age, smoking status, stage, histological classification, nutritional status, treatment, and survival. We analyzed 831 patients, including 572 (68.8%) men and 259 (31.2%) women, with mean age of 60.22 ± 10.38 years. Among the study population, 9.1% had small cell lung cancer, 90.9% had non-small cell lung cancer, 26.5% had squamous cell carcinoma, and 52.5% had adenocarcinoma. The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma was higher in men, while that of adenocarcinoma was higher in women. Half of the patients with small cell lung cancer had advanced or extensive disease at diagnosis. Comorbid diseases were present in 28.2% of the patients, and included hypertension (72.8%), diabetes mellitus (20%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (3.4%), among others. For treatment, 13.5% of the total patients underwent surgery, 25.8% received chemotherapy, 22.5% received postoperative targeted therapy, and 29.4% were not treated at our hospital. Overall median survival was 24.60 ± 1.99 months. The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year overall survival rate were 70.3%, 51%, 40.1%, and 32.2%, respectively. Surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved prognosis of the small cell lung cancer patients. In conclusion, this analysis provides the most recent epidemiological information on lung cancer in Fujian, China.