Single Organ Metastases in NSCLC Linked with Better Outcomes

Patients with single organ metastatic stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially those with low TN status, have favorable prognosis, according to a study published in the European Journal of Cancer.¹

In an observational study, researchers led by Lizza E. Hendriks, MD, of Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands looked at data from 11,094 patients with histologically confirmed stage 4 NSCLC who were diagnosed from January 2006 to December 2012 as part of the Netherlands Cancer Registry.

The researchers wanted to examine the prognostic impact of single versus multiple organ metastases, organ affected, and local disease status on overall survival. They registered the location of metastases before treatment and performed multivariable survival analyses.

Upon performing flurodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), they found that patients with single organ as opposed to two or at least three organ metastases had higher overall survival.

Among those patients with single organ metastases, overall survival for low TN status was 8.5 months compared to 6.5 months for high TN status.

“[Patients with single organ metastases] have to be regarded as a separate subgroup of stage IV disease,” the authors concluded.

Reference

1. Hendriks LE, Derks JL, Postmus PE, et al. Single organ metastatic disease and local disease status, prognostic factors for overall survival in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer: Results from a population-based study. European Journal of Cancer. 2015. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2015.08.008.