Characteristics of female lung cancer in Korea: analysis of Korean National Lung Cancer Registry

BACKGROUNDS: The present study evaluated Korean women with lung cancer and compared the clinical characteristics of ever-smoker and never-smoker groups using the National Lung Cancer Registry. METHODS: In affiliation with the Korean Central Cancer Registry, the Korean Association for Lung Cancer constructed a registry into which 10% of the lung cancer cases in Korea were registered. Female lung cancer patients with valid smoking history were evaluated. RESULTS: Among 735 female lung cancer patients, 643 (87.5%) were never-smokers and 92 (12.5%) were smokers. The median survival was significantly longer in the never-smoker group (28 vs. 14 months; P<0.001). Among 683 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the never-smoker group showed significantly longer median survival (29 vs. 14 months; P=0.002) and a higher proportion of stage I cancer (40.3% vs. 25.7%; P<0.001). Survival analysis of the NSCLC patients showed that smoking status, receiving only supportive care, EGFR mutation status, lung cancer stage, and forced vital capacity (FVC) (%) were significantly associated with mortality in the multivariate analysis (P=0.025, HR 2.39, 95% CI: 1.12–5.11; P=0.017, HR 3.14, 95% CI: 1.22–8.06; P=0.033, HR 0.63, 95% CI: 0.41–0.96; P<0.001, HR 11.88, 95% CI: 5.79–24.38; P=0.002, HR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96–0.99, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In Korean women with NSCLC, smoking status, not receiving active anticancer treatment, EGFR mutation status, lung cancer stage, and pulmonary function were significantly associated with mortality.