Prevalence of co-morbidity in lung cancer patients and its relationship with treatment: A population-based study

Background: With the rising mean age of lung cancer patients, the number of patients with serious co-morbidity at diagnosis is increasing. As a result, co-morbidity may become an important factor in both the choice of treatment and survival. We studied the prevalence of serious co-morbidity among newly diagnosed lung cancer patients and its association with morphology, stage and treatment. Patients: A total of 3864 lung cancer patients registered in the population-based registry of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre South between 1993 and 1995. Results: During the study period, the mean age of patients was 67 years (range: 29–93). The most frequent concomitant diseases were cardiovascular diseases (23%), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) (22%) and other malignancies (15%). The prevalence of concomitant diseases was highest for men (60%), patients with squamous-cell carcinoma (64%) and those with a localised tumour (66%). The resection rate for patients