The incidence of a second primary lung cancer among patients diagnosed with a first primary lung cancer can be as high as 8%, according to a presentation delivered 7 June at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer meeting.
Presenter Alexandra Potter of Massachusetts General hospital in Boston and colleagues conducted a study that explored the incidence, timing, and survival rates of second primary lung cancer using data from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). The study included 2,053 patients diagnosed with a first lung cancer who developed a second lung cancer who were categorized into two groups based on second cancer appearance (i.e., less than six months after first diagnosis or more than six months).
Of the study participants, 4.1% developed a second primary lung cancer. Of these second cancers, 56% manifested within six months of the first cancer diagnosis and 44% six months or later; the investigators found that second lung cancer incidence was as high as 8% among patients undergoing surgery for stage 1A disease.
An earlier manifestation of a second lung cancer translated into poorer survival outcomes: Those individuals who developed a second lung cancer within six months of diagnosis of the first had a five-year survival rate of 45.6%, while those who developed a second lung cancer six months or more after diagnosis of the first had a five-year survival rate of 80.3%, Potter reported.
