Survival and prognostic factors of early‐stage non‐small cell lung cancer in Central and Eastern Europe: A prospective cohort study

Abstract Background Although early diagnosis and surgical resection of the tumor have been shown to be the most important predictors of lung cancer survival, long‐term survival for surgically‐resected early‐stage lung cancer remains poor. Aims In this prospective study we aimed to investigate the survival and prognostic factors of surgically‐resected early‐stage non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Central and Eastern Europe. Methods We recruited 2052 patients with stage I‐IIIA NSCLC from 9 centers in Russia, Poland, Serbia, Czech Republic, and Romania, between 2007–2016 and followed them annually through 2020. Results During follow‐up, there were 1121 deaths (including 730 cancer‐specific deaths). Median survival time was 4.9 years, and the 5‐year overall survival was 49.5%. In the multivariable model, mortality was increased among older individuals (HR for each 10‐year increase: 1.31 [95% CI: 1.21–1.42]), males (HR:1.24 [1.04–1.49]), participants with significant weight loss (HR:1.25 [1.03–1.52]), current smokers (HR:1.30 [1.04–1.62]), alcohol drinkers (HR:1.22 [1.03–1.44]), and those with higher stage tumors (HR stage IIIA vs. I: 5.54 [4.10 – 7.48]). However, education, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), and tumor histology were not associated with risk of death. All baseline indicators of smoking and alcohol drinking showed a dose‐dependent association with the risk of cancer‐specific mortality. This included pack‐years of cigarettes smoked ( p ‐trend = 0.04), quantity of smoking ( p ‐trend = 0.008), years of smoking ( p ‐trend = 0.010), gram‐days of alcohol drank ( p ‐trend = 0.002), frequency of drinking ( p ‐trend = 0.006), and years of drinking ( p ‐trend = 0.016). Conclusion This study shows that the 5‐year survival rate of surgically‐resected stage I‐IIIA NSCLC is still around 50% in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to non‐modifiable prognostic factors, lifetime patterns of smoking and alcohol drinking affected the risk of death and disease progression in a dose‐dependent manner in this population.