Clinical characteristics and prognosis of pulmonary large cell carcinoma: A population‐based retrospective study using SEER data

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary large cell carcinoma (LCC) is an infrequent neoplasm with a poor prognosis. This study explored the clinical characteristics and survival prognostic factors of LCC patients. METHODS: Patient data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Chi‐square tests or rank‐sum tests were used to compare differences in clinical characteristics. Log‐rank tests, univariate, and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the independent factors of survival. Analyses of stage I–IV patients were performed to further explore the optimal treatment. RESULTS: In total, 3197 LCC patients were included in this analysis. Compared with other non‐small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), there was a worse overall survival (OS) from LCC. LCC was more common in males, over age 60 and in the upper lobe. A total of 73.6% of patients were stage III/IV. The median OS of stage I–IV patients was 42 months, 22 months, 11 months, and three months, respectively. The elderly, males, later stage, and main bronchus location, or overlapping lesions were risk factors for survival prognosis. In stage I–III patients, treatment including surgery could significantly reduce the risk of death by 60% at least compared with no therapy. Surgery was still beneficial for stage IV patients, and the hazard ratio (HR) compared with no therapy was 0.462 (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study concluded that LCC has unique clinical features, and that age, sex, primary site, stage, and treatment are significantly related to OS. Surgery based comprehensive treatments are effective for LCC. KEY POINTS: Significant findings of the study In stage IV patients, chemotherapy or radiotherapy combined with surgery could further improve survival. When surgical resection involved more than one lobe, it may be beneficial for survival prognosis. What this study adds LCC patients were principally male and over age 60, with later stages and poor survival prognosis. Age, sex, stage, primary site and therapy are closely related to survival.