Comorbidity in small cell lung cancer: prognostic impacts of hypertension/coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Comorbidity, the most important components of which are hypertension/coronary artery disease (HTN/CAD), diabetes mellitus (DM), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is frequently encountered in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients. We aimed to assess the possible impacts of these major comorbidities on the prognoses of SCLC patients. A total of 378 SCLC patients were analyzed retrospectively. We did not ascertain the effect of comorbidity on survival in SCLC patients in general;and similarly, the presence of HTN/CAD and COPD did not adversely affect the outcome. However, lower survival rates were observed in patients with SCLC coexisting with DM.