Table 1.
Characteristics and Treatment of Patients with Small Cell Lung Cancer
| Variable | All Patients N (%) | Ages 65 to 74 | Ages 75 and older | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total patients | 10,428 | 6,243 | 4,185 | |
| Median age in years (range) | 73 (65-97) | |||
| Males | 5,337 (51.2%) | 3,204 (51.3%) | 2,133 (51.0%) | 0.72 |
| Females | 5,091 (48.8%) | 3,039 (48.7%) | 2,052 (49.0%) | |
| Race | ||||
| White non-Hispanic | 9,067 (87.0%) | 5,383 (86.3%) | 3,684 (88.0%) | 0.004 |
| White Hispanic | 304 (2.9%) | 188 (3.0%) | 116 (2.8%) | |
| Black | 698 (6.7%) | 463 (7.4%) | 235 (5.6%) | |
| Asian | 321 (3.1%) | 182 (2.9%) | 139 (3.3%) | |
| Native American | 33 (0.3%) | 22 (0.4%) | 11 (0.3%) | |
| SEER Stage | ||||
| Limited | 4,241 (40.7%) | 2,498 (40.0%) | 1,743 (41.7%) | <0.001 |
| Extensive | 5,500 (52.7%) | 3,371 (54.0%) | 2,129 (50.9%) | |
| Unstaged | 687 (6.6%) | 374 (6.0%) | 313 (7.5%) | |
| Comorbidity score | ||||
| 0 | 7,790 (74.7%) | 4,762 (76.3%) | 3,028 (72.4%) | <0.001 |
| 1 | 1,203 (11.5%) | 713 (11.4%) | 490 (11.7%) | |
| 2 | 659 (6.3%) | 361 (5.8%) | 298 (7.1%) | |
| 3 | 381 (3.7%) | 197 (3.2%) | 184 (4.4%) | |
| ≥ 4 | 395 (3.8%) | 210 (3.4%) | 185 (4.4%) | |
| Treatment | ||||
| Any Surgery | 351 (3.4%) | 235 (3.8%) | 116 (2.8%) | 0.02 |
| Any Radiation | 4,077 (39.1%) | 2,739 (43.9%) | 1,338 (32.0%) | <0.001 |
| Any Chemotherapy | 6,994 (67.1%) | 4,613 (73.9%) | 2,381 (56.9%) | <0.001 |
| Treatment | ||||
| No treatment | 2,275 (21.8%) | 1,023 (16.4%) | 1,252 (29.9%) | <0.001 |
| Surgery only | 83 (0.8%) | 44 (0.7%) | 39 (0.9%) | 0.2 |
| Radiation only | 907 (8.7%) | 483 (7.7%) | 424 (10.1%) | <0.001 |
| Chemotherapy only | 3,475 (33.3%) | 2,106 (33.7%) | 1,369 (32.7%) | 0.3 |
| Surgery and Radiation | 29 (0.3%) | 15 (0.2%) | 14 (0.3%) | 0.4 |
| Surgery and Chemotherapy | 136 (1.3%) | 97 (1.6%) | 39 (0.9%) | 0.006 |
| Radiation and Chemotherapy | 3,021 (29.0%) | 2,153 (34.5%) | 868 (20.7%) | <0.001 |
| Surgery, Radiation, and Chemotherapy | 90 (0.9%) | 69 (1.1%) | 21 (0.5%) | 0.001 |
| Unknown if Surgery or Radiation | 412 (4.0%) | 253 (4.1%) | 159 (4.0%) | 0.5 |
| Type of Chemotherapy * | ||||
| No chemotherapy | 3,434 (32.9%) | 1,630 (26.1%) | 1,804 (43.1%) | <0.001 |
| Etoposide with carboplatin or cisplatin (with or without other agents) | 4,337 (41.6%) | 2,898 (46.4%) | 1,439 (34.4%) | <0.001 |
| Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine (with other agents) | 202 (1.9%) | 134 (2.2%) | 68 (1.6%) | 0.06 |
| Other combinations | 2,455 (23.5%) | 1,581 (25.3%) | 874 (20.9%) | <0.001 |
*
These are chemotherapeutic agents given at any time in the first 6 months after a diagnosis of SCLC.