A new study by a UNMC researcher has found that having a comorbid condition directly impacts a patient’s chances of surviving lung cancer.
Dr. K.M. Monirul Islam did the study of 5,683 lung cancer patients, taking in to account 14 comorbid conditions. A comorbid condition is a disease or disorder that occurs alongside a primary condition. They include diabetes, congestive heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
Dr. Islam says having another health condition can complicate the treatment of lung cancer.
“If a patient has, for example, chronic renal disease, liver disease, diabetes, or pulmonary disease, that will restrict the choice of drugs. So it limits the treatment options.”
Dr. Islam says treatment options are already limited in some patients because of their age when they’re diagnosed with lung cancer. He says patients should let doctors know about all health conditions they may have.
“If they have any conditions and they’re aware of it, or they have any problem issue, they should disclose everything and discuss with their physician to come up with a better treatment plan so that they can optimally manage the conditions. Eventually, we hope that it’ll at least increase survival to some extent.”
Dr. Islam’s study found that lung cancer patients with a comorbid condition have a 30 percent higher risk of death. About three-fourths of the lung cancer patients in the study had one or more comorbid conditions. Half had pulmonary disease, and 16 percent had diabetes.
Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death among both men and women.