Impact of concomitant idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on prognosis in lung cancer patients: A meta-analysis

PLoS One. 2021 Nov 12;16(11):e0259784. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259784. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Background: Current studies showed that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may lead to a poor prognosis of lung cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis to explore the impact of concomitant IPF in lung cancer and its prognostic value.

Methods: We searched the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase up to Feb 10th, 2021 for relevant researches and merged the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the association between concomitant IPF and overall survival (OS) in patients with lung cancer.

Results: Twelve studies involving 58424 patients were included in our meta-analysis. The results indicated that concomitant IPF was correlated with poor prognosis of lung cancer patients (HR = 1.99, 95%CI, 1.59-2.51). The association remained consistent after subgroup analysis and meta-regression stratified by study region, sample size, tumor histology, and therapy. In addition, our results were robust even after sensitivity analysis.

Conclusions: Concomitant IPF may be a prognostic factor of lung cancer, which can lead to poor survival. However, further studies were necessary for evidence in clinical application.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis / complications*
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 91859203 and 81871890] and Major Science and Technology Innovation Project of Chengdu City [grant number 2020-YF08-00080-GX] and the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.