Lung Cancer - Prognosis

Prognosis

Prognostic factors in NSCLC include presence or absence of pulmonary symptoms, tumor size, cell type (histology), degree of spread (stage) and metastases to multiple lymph nodes, and vascular invasion. For patients with inoperable disease, prognosis is adversely affected by poor performance status and weight loss of more than 10%. Prognostic factors in small cell lung cancer include performance status, gender, stage of disease, and involvement of the central nervous system or liver at the time of diagnosis.

Prognosis is generally poor. Of all patients with lung cancer, 15% survive for five years after diagnosis. Stage is often advanced at the time of diagnosis. At presentation, 30–40% of cases of NSCLC are stage IV, and 60% of SCLC are stage IV.

For NSCLC, the best prognosis is achieved with complete surgical resection of stage IA disease, with up to 70% five-year survival. For SCLC, the overall five-year survival for patients is about 5%. Patients with extensive-stage SCLC have an average five-year survival rate of less than 1%. The median survival time for limited-stage disease is 20 months, with a five-year survival rate of 20%.

According to data provided by the National Cancer Institute, the median age at diagnosis of lung cancer in the United States is 70 years, and the median age at death is 72 years. In the US, people with medical insurance are more likely to have a better outcome.