The prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is poor, particularly for patients with metastatic disease. Numerous efforts have been made to improve the prognosis of these patients; however, only a small number of studies have explored the occurrence rate and prognostic value of different patterns of distant metastasis (DM) in NSCLC systematically. To investigate these, information from patients diagnosed with NSCLC between 2010 and 2014 was collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. Survival rate comparisons were performed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank tests. A Cox proportional hazard model was established to determine factors associated with improved overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). The present study revealed that the most common site of single metastasis occurrence was bone, and the least common was the liver for NSCLC. As for multi-site metastases, the most common two-site metastasis involved bone and lung, and the most common three-site metastasis involved bone, liver and lung. As for NSCLC subtypes, large cell carcinoma (LCC) exhibited more specific metastatic features. The most common single metastatic site was the brain for patients with LCC, and the most common two-site metastatic combination was bone and liver. Patients with isolated liver metastasis exhibited the worst OS and CSS among patients with single metastasis. Furthermore, for patients with multi-site metastases, metastases involving the liver were associated with the worst OS and CSS among various combinations. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate the occurrence rate and prognostic value of different metastatic patterns of site-specific DM for NSCLC using a large population-based dataset. The findings of the present study may have vital implications for classifying patients with advanced NSCLC, thus laying a foundation for individualized precise treatment.
Keywords: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results; histological subtype; metastatic pattern; non-small cell lung cancer; prognosis.