Patients with lung cancer with metachronous or synchronous gastric cancer

There are few reports of treatment and outcome for patients with metachronous or synchronous lung and gastric cancers. To evaluate them, we conducted a retrospective study.

The medical records of patients with lung cancer who previously or simultaneously had gastric cancer seen in our division between January 1979 and July 2008 were reviewed.

Forty-five (3.2%) of 1391 patients had previous or simultaneous gastric cancer. The proportion of men was higher among patients with lung cancer with gastric cancer than those without (P = .0006). There was a significant difference in age at the time of diagnosis of lung cancer between the 45 patients with gastric cancer and the 1346 patients without it (P = .0344). The proportion of smokers was higher among lung cancer patients with gastric cancer than those without (P = .0015). Twenty-seven of 45 patients had smoking-related cell types of lung cancer: squamous cell carcinoma and small-cell lung cancer. The proportion of these 2 cell types was higher in patients with lung cancer with gastric cancer than those without (P = .02). The diagnosis of gastric cancer preceded the diagnosis of lung cancer in 33 patients, and the median duration from the diagnosis of gastric cancer to that of the lung cancer was 6 years.

For patients with gastric cancer, smoking cessation, a chest radiograph at least yearly for several years, and swift evaluation of signs or symptoms that are suggestive of lung cancer should be recommended, especially in elderly men with gastric cancer and smoking habit.