Clinic Characteristics and Prognosis in 102 Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients 
Less than 40 Years Old

Abstract

Background and objective The incidence of young non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) annually increases. The aim of this study is to analyze the clinical pathological characteristics of young (less than 40 years old) NSCLC patients. Methods The data of 102 young NSCLC were retrospectively analyzed. Results Among the 102 patients, 43.1% were women and 29.4% were smokers. The male-to-female ratio was 1.32:1. The most frequent histologic type was adenocarcinoma (77.5%). Tumor differentiation was mostly poor (64.1%), and 87.8% had stages IIIb and IV diseases. The median recurrence time of 6 patients who had tumor resection was 13.5 months. The objective response rate (ORR) of 87 patients who received first-line chemotherapy was 46.0%, the disease control rate (DCR) was 79.3%, and the median time to progression (TTP) was 5.0 months. The ORR of 38 patients who received epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI) therapy was 40.0%, with a DCR of 65.7% and a median TTP of 5.5 months. The DCR of 12 patients who received EGFR-TKI twice or more times was 66.7%, with a median TTP of 3.0 months. Conclusion The time from the first presenting symptom until diagnosis was usually long. The female proportion presented an upward trend and the correlation became attenuated between young NSCLC patients and smoking. Most of the young NSCLC patients had adenocarcinoma and poor tumor differentiation. Multidisciplinary and systematic therapies were needed to improve the poor prognosis of the young NSCLC patients.

Keywords

• Lung neoplasms
• Young
• Pathological characteristic
• Therapy
• Prognosis