The prognostic value of multiorgan metastases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and its variants: a SEER-based study

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of different organs metastases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its most common subtypes. Methods We identified 45,423 NSCLC cases (25,129 men and 20,294 women) between 2010 and 2013 with distant metastases, with complete clinical information obtained from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database. Results Bone and liver were the most and the least common metastatic sites with rates of 37.1 and 16.8%, respectively. The mortality rates associated with bone, brain, liver, lung metastases, and multiorgan metastases (MOM) were 73.2, 72.7, 78.3, 65.4, and 77.5%, respectively. Kaplan–Meier analyses demonstrated that patients with MOM and liver metastasis had the worst survival. Compared with NSCLC cases with other organ metastasis, but without the four organs metastasis, hazard ratios (HRs) for lung, bone, brain, and liver metastases, and MOM were 0.906 (95% CI 0.866–0.947), 1.276 (95% CI 1.225–1.330), 1.318 (95% CI 1.260–1.379), 1.481 (95% CI 1.388–1.580), and 1.647 (95% CI 1.587–1.709), respectively. Similar results were obtained for adenocarcinoma (AD) cases. Conclusions The mortality risk is highest with MOM and liver metastasis followed by bone, brain, other organ, and lung metastases in NSCLC and AD which is the most common variant for NSCLC. These results will be helpful for pre-treatment evaluation regarding the prognosis of NSCLC patients.