Abstract 209P
Background
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 15% of all lung cancers and it is the most aggressive, with a 5-year survival rate of 18.0% for regional tumors and 3.6% for distant tumors. The available evidence for SCLC in never-smokers is scarce. The objective was to analyze the characteristics of never-smoking subjects diagnosed with SCLC.
Methods
The main data source was the Thoracic Tumor Registry of the Spanish Lung Cancer Group, which is representative of lung cancer cases diagnosed in Spain by age and sex. Patients were recruited since 2016 by oncologists in more than 80 participating hospitals. SCLC cases in never-smokers were included. Descriptive analysis was performed on the characteristics of the cases, as well as their symptoms at diagnosis, globally and according to the stage of the disease (extended or limited).
Results
A total of 73 never-smoking SCLC cases were included, comprising 14.3% of all SCLC cases registered. The median age at diagnosis was 71.8 years (interquartilic range 58.5-81.2 years) and 72.6% were women. Of the 73 cases included, 50 (68.5%) had extended SCLC and 51 (69.9%) had at least one comorbidity at diagnosis. 14 (19.2%) cases were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at home in the past 20 years and 5.5% indicated that their longest occupation was in construction, 4.1% reported agriculture/livestock and in cleaning. Cough was the most common symptom at diagnosis (36.2%). There were no significant differences between the frequency of any symptom at diagnosis according to disease stage (Table). Symptoms at diagnosis, globally and broken down by stage at diagnosis.
Table: 209P
| Total | SCLC Limited | SCLC Extended | p-value | |
| N=69* | N=19 | N=50 | ||
| Cough | 1.00 | |||
| Yes | 25 (36.2%) | 7 (36.8%) | 18 (36.0%) | |
| Weight loss | 0.32 | |||
| Yes | 14 (20.3%) | 2 (10.5%) | 12 (24.0%) | |
| Pain | 0.086 | |||
| Yes | 23 (33.3%) | 3 (15.8%) | 20 (40.0%) | |
| Anorexia | 0.43 | |||
| Yes | 9 (13.0%) | 1 (5.3%) | 8 (16.0%) | |
| Dyspnea | 0.23 | |||
| Yes | 18 (26.1%) | 7 (36.8%) | 11 (22.0%) | |
| Asthenia | 0.43 | |||
| Yes | 8 (11.6%) | 1 (5.3%) | 7 (14.0%) | |
| Hemoptisis | 1.00 | |||
| Yes | 2 (2.90%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (4.0%) |
*4 patients categorized as “Other” were excluded. This table shows the percentage of patients reporting each symptom. SCLC: Small cell lung cancer.
Conclusions
The results of this study show SCLC in never smokers is more frequent in women compared to men. Practically two out of three of all these patients present extended disease at diagnosis.
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.