Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct;7(2):112-121.
doi: 10.14791/btrt.2019.7.e35.

Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors for Renouncing Further Active Therapy for Patients with Brain Metastasis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Gyuseo Jung  1 , Seok Hyun Kim  2 , Tae Gyu Kim  3 , Young Zoon Kim  4
Affiliations

Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors for Renouncing Further Active Therapy for Patients with Brain Metastasis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Gyuseo Jung et al. Brain Tumor Res Treat. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Background: As patients with brain metastasis (BM) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have dismal prognosis, some of them decide to discontinue further treatment for BM. The objective of this study was to determine factors for renouncing further active therapy in patients with BM of NSCLC, focusing on their demographic and socioeconomic status.

Methods: Medical records of 105 patients with radiological diagnosis of BM of NSCLC for the recent 11 years at authors' institution were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical features as well as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as marriage status, cohabiting family members, religious affiliations, educational background, and economic responsibility were reviewed.

Results: Median overall survival (OS) was 13.84 (95% CI: 10.26-17.42) years in 67 patients (group A) who underwent active treatment (radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy) and 4.76 (95% CI: 3.12-6.41) years in 38 patients (group B) who renounced active treatment. Less patients were unmarried (p=0.046), more cohabitating family members (p=0.008), and economically independent (p=0.014) in group A than those in group B. Similarly, the unmarried, and none cohabitating family members had short OS (5.17 and 7.38 years, respectively). In multivariate analysis for predisposing factors of OS in these patients, the following demographic and socioeconomic factors had independent significance: marriage status and cohabitating family members.

Conclusion: This study suggests that demographic and socioeconomic status as well as clinical factors could influence the decision of further active treatment and prognosis of patients with BM of NSCLC.

Keywords: Brain metastasis; Demography; Non-small cell lung cancer; Palliative care; Prognosis; Socioeconomics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Kaplan-Meier survival curves of overall survival for patients with brain metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer according to (A) groups (Group A vs. Group B), (B) marriage status (married vs. unmarried), (C) family history of cancer (presence vs. absence), (D) cohabitating family member (presence vs. absence), and (E) economic capability to pay for medical care (dependent vs. independent).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D. Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin. 2011;61:69–90. - PubMed
    1. Malvezzi M, Bertuccio P, Levi F, La Vecchia C, Negri E. European cancer mortality predictions for the year 2013. Ann Oncol. 2013;24:792–800. - PubMed
    1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization. Cancer fact sheets: estimated cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide in 2012. Globocan 2012. [Accessed November 8, 2018]. at: http://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/pdf/fact-sheets/cancers/cancerfact-sheets-....
    1. Jung KW, Won YJ, Kong HJ, Lee ES. Prediction of cancer incidence and mortality in Korea, 2018. Cancer Res Treat. 2018;50:317–323. - PMC - PubMed
    1. National Cancer Institute. Cancer stat facts: lung and bronchus cancer. Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program. [Accessed November 8, 2018]. at: https://seer.cancer.gov.