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Smoking status and adenocarcinoma histology may explain an improved survival in the female non-small cell lung cancer patients
Lung Cancer (2005) 49, 137
CORRESPONDENCE Smoking status and adenocarcinoma histology may explain an improved survival in the female non-small cell lung cancer patients To the Editor, Batevik et al. [1] in their retrospective analysis reported that only female gender and low nodular stage were significant and independent positive prognostic factors in surgically resected primary non-small cell lung cancer patients. Recent data [2] showed that the never-smoking status was found to be an independent predictor of improved survival in lung adenocarcinoma patients. Moreover, never-smokers with adenocarcinoma were found to be predominantly female. No data were provided on the smoking status of the patients in Batevik paper. Moreover, 65% of the female gender had an adenocarcinoma diagnosis versus 40% of the male population [1]. We, therefore, suggest that a more detailed analysis on smoking history and the pathological diversity should be considered in defining the natural history of surgically resected primary non-small cell lung cancer patients.
References [1] Batevik R, Grong K, Segadal L, Stangeland L. The female gender has a positive effect on survival independent of back-
ground life expectancy following surgical resection of primary non-small cell lung cancer: a study of absolute and relative survival over 15 years. Lung Cancer 2005;47(2):173—81. [2] Nordquist LT, Simon GR, Cantor A, Alberts WM, Bepler G. Improved survival in never-smokers vs current smokers with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung. Chest 2004;126(2):347—51.
Kadri Altundag∗ Ozden Altundag Faculty of Medicine Department of Medical Oncology Hacettepe University Ankara, Turkey Paolo Morandi Department of Medical Oncology S. Bortolo General Hospital Vicenza, Italy Mehmet Gunduz Department of Otolaryngology Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry Okayama University, Japan ∗ Corresponding
author Present address: 8181 Fannin Street No.: 728 Houston, TX 77054, USA Tel.: +1 713 7950438; fax: +1 713 794 4385 E-mail address: [email protected] (K. Altundag)
0169-5002/$ — see front matter © 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2004.12.010
16 November 2004
CORRESPONDENCE Smoking status and adenocarcinoma histology may explain an improved survival in the female non-small cell lung cancer patients To the Editor, Batevik et al. [1] in their retrospective analysis reported that only female gender and low nodular stage were significant and independent positive prognostic factors in surgically resected primary non-small cell lung cancer patients. Recent data [2] showed that the never-smoking status was found to be an independent predictor of improved survival in lung adenocarcinoma patients. Moreover, never-smokers with adenocarcinoma were found to be predominantly female. No data were provided on the smoking status of the patients in Batevik paper. Moreover, 65% of the female gender had an adenocarcinoma diagnosis versus 40% of the male population [1]. We, therefore, suggest that a more detailed analysis on smoking history and the pathological diversity should be considered in defining the natural history of surgically resected primary non-small cell lung cancer patients.
References [1] Batevik R, Grong K, Segadal L, Stangeland L. The female gender has a positive effect on survival independent of back-
ground life expectancy following surgical resection of primary non-small cell lung cancer: a study of absolute and relative survival over 15 years. Lung Cancer 2005;47(2):173—81. [2] Nordquist LT, Simon GR, Cantor A, Alberts WM, Bepler G. Improved survival in never-smokers vs current smokers with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung. Chest 2004;126(2):347—51.
Kadri Altundag∗ Ozden Altundag Faculty of Medicine Department of Medical Oncology Hacettepe University Ankara, Turkey Paolo Morandi Department of Medical Oncology S. Bortolo General Hospital Vicenza, Italy Mehmet Gunduz Department of Otolaryngology Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry Okayama University, Japan ∗ Corresponding
author Present address: 8181 Fannin Street No.: 728 Houston, TX 77054, USA Tel.: +1 713 7950438; fax: +1 713 794 4385 E-mail address: [email protected] (K. Altundag)
0169-5002/$ — see front matter © 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2004.12.010
16 November 2004