Long-term survivors after chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Background: Chemotherapy is considered to have a marginal impact on survival. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the rate of long-term survival in patients treated with chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and Methods: The case records of 109 patients with NSCLC treated with chemotherapy from March 1998 to March 2007 were reviewed. Results: Fourteen (12.8%) and seven (6.4%) patients survived for more than two or three years, respectively. All of the 14 patients had performance status (PS) 0 or 1, and they were given a platinum-containing chemotherapy as initial treatment. By means of univariate analysis, good PS and gefitinib therapy were proved to be good prognostic factors. With Cox's model analysis, these two variables were confirmed as significant determinants of survival. Conclusion: A small but definite proportion of patients with locally-advanced and metastatic NSCLC might potentially survive for more than 2 years with appropriate chemotherapy.