Survival Analysis of Lung Cancer patients in Brunei Darussalam

BACKGROUND: Cancer has been the most common cause of deaths in Brunei Darussalam including lung cancer as one of the top killers. This study presents the survival analysis of primary lung cancer patients in Brunei Darussalam. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of a 15-year period (2002-2016) involving 797 primary lung cancer cases. De-identified data extracted from Brunei Darussalam Cancer Registry was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Bonferroni corrections were performed. RESULTS: 6 months, 1-year, 3-year, 5-year survival rates of lung cancer patients were 62.2%, 51.0%, 38.0% and 34.7% respectively. The median survival time was 12.4 months (95% Cl: 9.2, 15.7). Patients diagnosed 2002-2006 had significant longer survival than patients diagnosed 2007-2011 (p=0.039) and those diagnosed 2011-2016 (p<0.001). Survival time of patients diagnosed 2007-2011 was significantly longer than patients diagnosed 2012-2016 (p=0.049). Patients with localised disease had significantly longer survival time than patients with regional involvement (p<0.001) and distal site involvement (p<0.001). Patients with distal disease had significantly poorer survival rate than patients with regional involvement (p<0.001). Patients aged 50 or above had significantly shorter survival time than patients diagnosed at age 40-49 (p=0.003). There was no significant difference between survival time of other demographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The median survival time for lung cancer patients in this study was 12.4 months. Early diagnosis, early stage of cancer, and younger age were associated with longer survival time among lung cancer patients in Brunei Darussalam.