Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is a kind of rare lung cancer. We aim to analyze the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with PSC. METHODS: From January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2015, 119 patients in the Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were diagnosed with PSC, and they received treatment. We retrospectively collected information on gender, age, body mass index (BMI), symptoms, family history, smoking history, tumor size, tumor location, tumor diameter, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM), pathological type, and other factors to analyze the relationship between these factors and 1-, 3-, 5-year, and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Male patients who had a smoking history (n=76) comprised the main group of PSC. Median patient age was 60.67±10.50 years (range, 26–89 years). The majority of these patients (n=82) presented with respiratory symptoms. The median survival of patients who died of PSC was 11.87 months (6.38–21.48 months). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 61.3%, 34.5%, and 31.9%, respectively. Patients with a lower T stage and without lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis had a better OS (P<0.05). Other clinical characteristics and the difference in treatments did not influence the prognosis significantly (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PSC is a rare malignant neoplasm of the lung with poor prognosis. Surgery is a major therapeutic method for this disease entity. TNM-stage is the main factors affecting prognosis.