The presence of comorbid conditions was associated with worse survival, according to a population-based cohort study of 5,683 first-time diagnosed lung cancer patients. Researchers found:

• Among these patients, 36.8% survived their first year after diagnosis, with a median survival of 9.3 months for all stages combined.

• In this cohort, 26.7% of patients had no comorbidity at diagnosis.

• Most common comorbid conditions were chronic pulmonary disease (52.5%) diabetes (15.7%), and congestive heart failure (12.9%).

• Adjusted overall survival rates for lung cancer patients was negatively associated with comorbid conditions including congestive heart failure, diabetes with complications, moderate or severe liver disease, dementia, renal disease, and cerebrovascular disease, depending on stage.

Citation: Islam KM, Jiang X, Anggondowati T, Lin G, Ganti AK. Comorbidity and survival in lung cancer patients. [Published online ahead of print June 11, 2015]. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0036.