Clinical characteristics of patients with lung cancer and metachronous or synchronous tumours with other locations

Lung cancer is the leading form of cancer death worldwide. Cancer patients are at a high risk of developing a second cancer. The present study attempts to determine the characteristics of a population with lung cancer diagnosed with another cancer. We analysed records of patients from the Department of Lung Oncology of our hospital from 2000 to 2007 who were identified as having two or more tumours. We found 4.2% (n=44) multiple cancers among the registered cases (n=1046), 88.6% males, (high) mean age 70.1±10 years old. About 86% (n=38) of the patients were smokers or ex-smokers. From the patients with record of family history, 65.4% (n=17) had relevant family history of cancer. The majority of the first malignancy diagnosed was prostate, colon, head and neck and bladder. Lung cancer was essentially the second malignancy. The mean time lag between the two diagnoses was 62.9±64.9 months (max. 240, min. 0), with the second cancer usually detected at an advanced stage. The mean survival of patients who had a second primary lung cancer was 8.6±8.24 months (max. 32, min. 1), with four patients still surviving. Our results suggest that extended follow-up is needed in these patients, using screening strategies which follow international recommendations, and with control of carcinogenic risk factors such as smoking. We suggest a tailored risk algorithm and a further study to assess if there are particular molecular markers in these patients.