Prognostic factors of advanced stage non-small-cell lung cancer

Background Lung cancer is the main cause of death from cancer in the world. The 5-year survival is about 15%. Despite the progress of medicine the mortality rate decreased only marginally. This poor prognosis is due to late diagnosis. Aim To evaluate overall survival and prognostic factors in patients locally advanced or metastatic non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Retrospective study including 180 patients with non-small cell lung cancer hospitalized in the department of Charles Nicolle Hospital of Tunis between January 2007 and December 2014. Results The mean age was 61.5 years with a male predominance (93.3%). The median overall survival was 6 months. The poor prognostic factors were the performans status (PS) and early delays of management (<30 days). The factors that improve survival were surgical treatment and delays of management more than 45 days.  Conclusion The prognostic factors in locally advanced and metastatic NSLC in our patient were: PS, management delay and treatment. These factors should be considered in management of patient with advanced stage NSCLC.