Impact of concomitant idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on prognosis in lung cancer patients: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Current studies showed that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may lead to a poor prognosis of lung cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis to explore the impact of concomitant IPF in lung cancer and its prognostic value. METHODS: We searched the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase up to Feb 10(th), 2021 for relevant researches and merged the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the association between concomitant IPF and overall survival (OS) in patients with lung cancer. RESULTS: Twelve studies involving 58424 patients were included in our meta-analysis. The results indicated that concomitant IPF was correlated with poor prognosis of lung cancer patients (HR = 1.99, 95%CI, 1.59–2.51). The association remained consistent after subgroup analysis and meta-regression stratified by study region, sample size, tumor histology, and therapy. In addition, our results were robust even after sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant IPF may be a prognostic factor of lung cancer, which can lead to poor survival. However, further studies were necessary for evidence in clinical application.