Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors for Renouncing Further Active Therapy for Patients with Brain Metastasis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND: As patients with brain metastasis (BM) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have dismal prognosis, some of them decide to discontinue further treatment for BM. The objective of this study was to determine factors for renouncing further active therapy in patients with BM of NSCLC, focusing on their demographic and socioeconomic status. METHODS: Medical records of 105 patients with radiological diagnosis of BM of NSCLC for the recent 11 years at authors' institution were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical features as well as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as marriage status, cohabiting family members, religious affiliations, educational background, and economic responsibility were reviewed. RESULTS: Median overall survival (OS) was 13.84 (95% CI: 10.26–17.42) years in 67 patients (group A) who underwent active treatment (radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy) and 4.76 (95% CI: 3.12–6.41) years in 38 patients (group B) who renounced active treatment. Less patients were unmarried (p=0.046), more cohabitating family members (p=0.008), and economically independent (p=0.014) in group A than those in group B. Similarly, the unmarried, and none cohabitating family members had short OS (5.17 and 7.38 years, respectively). In multivariate analysis for predisposing factors of OS in these patients, the following demographic and socioeconomic factors had independent significance: marriage status and cohabitating family members. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that demographic and socioeconomic status as well as clinical factors could influence the decision of further active treatment and prognosis of patients with BM of NSCLC.