| Description: |
Shweta Shah,1 Christopher M Blanchette,1 Joseph C Coyle,2 Marc Kowalkowski,3 Susan T Arthur,2 Reuben Howden1,21Department of Public Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA; 2Department of Kinesiology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA; 3Levine Cancer Institute, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, NC, USAObjective: We investigated the impact of preexisting COPD and its subtypes, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, on overall survival among Medicare enrollees diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods: Using SEER-Medicare data, we included patients ≥66 years of age diagnosed with NSCLC at any disease stage between 2006 and 2010 and continuously enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B in the 12 months prior to diagnosis. Preexisting COPD in patients with NSCLC were identified using ICD-9 codes. Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank tests were used to examine overall survival by COPD status and COPD subtype. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were fit to assess the risk of death after cancer diagnosis.Results: We identified 66,963 lung cancer patients. Of these, 22,497 (33.60%) had documented COPD before NSCLC diagnosis. For each stage of NSCLC, median survival was shorter in the COPD compared to the non-COPD group (Stage I: 692 days vs 1,130 days, P |