Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) and lung cancer are two of the most common respiratory diseases. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the prognostic significance of presence of ILD in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Patients and methods: All the patients with NSCLC who were admitted to our hospitals over a 23-year period up to 2008 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: During the study period, 2,165 NSCLC patients were consecutively admitted to our hospitals. Among them, 53 (2.4%) patients were diagnosed as having both NSCLC and ILD. In uni- and multivariate analysis, female gender, early stage, good PS, and surgery were favorable prognostic factors. The presence of ILD was confirmed as an unfavorable prognostic factor.
Conclusion: Existing ILD adversely affects the outcome of NSCLC. When deciding whether or not to offer a standard therapy which may increase treatment-related mortality, the patient's medical condition, including ILD, should be taken into consideration.