Impact of comorbidity index on morbidity and survival in non-small cell lung cancer

Background The number of surgeries in older patients with comorbidities is constantly growing. The present study examined the impact of comorbidity on postoperative complications and long-term survival in patients with completely resected non-small cell cancer. Methods Between 2004 and 2008, 423 patients with non-small cell lung cancer underwent complete resection. A retrospective comparison of perioperative mortality, morbidity, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and postoperative length of hospital stay was performed. Results The number of patients with CCI 0, 1-2, and ≥3 was 226, 170 and 27, respectively. The 5-year overall survival was 88% among patients with CCI 0, and 84% in those with CCI ≥1 (p = 0.05) in all pathological stages. The CCI 0 group had significantly better overall survival than CCI 0 group and 30 (15%) in the CCI ≥1 group (p = 0.024). Length of stay was shorter in the CCI 0 group (11 ± 5 days) than in the CCI ≥1 group (15 ± 19 days, p = 0.015). Conclusions A high CCI correlated with higher postoperative morbidity and longer length of stay. We identified better a prognosis in patients with CCI 0 compared to those with CCI 1-2.