Risk factors for early mortality from lung cancer: evolution over the last 20 years in the French nationwide KBP...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The impact of novel lung cancer treatments on early mortality is not well understood.
• Evaluating trends in early lung cancer mortality over two decades is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the real-world rate of and risk factors for early (3-month) mortality in lung cancer patients.
• To analyze trends in early lung cancer mortality over the past 20 years.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from the KBP prospective observational multicenter studies (KBP-2000, KBP-2010, KBP-2020).
• Inclusion of all newly diagnosed lung cancer patients (all stages and histologies) from French public hospitals.
• Comparison of patient and tumor characteristics between early mortality cases and the overall cohort, and across different study years.

Main Results:

• The KBP-2020 cohort included 8999 patients; 1792 (20.3%) died within 3 months.
• Identified risk factors for early mortality include male sex, age >70, symptomatic disease, smoking history, weight loss, poor performance status, specific histology, and advanced stage.
• A significant decrease in 3-month mortality was observed over 20 years, from 24.7% (KBP-2000) to 20.3% (KBP-2020).

Conclusions:

• Early lung cancer mortality has significantly decreased over the past two decades, potentially due to treatment advancements.
• Despite the decrease, early mortality rates remain high, contrasting with improvements in long-term survival.
• Delays in lung cancer diagnosis and treatment initiation may contribute to persistent early mortality.