Survival status of veterans with lung cancer is poorer than that among civilians due to age and sex differences: a study of Chinese veterans in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to analyze and compare the clinical characteristics and survival difference among veterans and civilians in Taiwan with lung cancer, especially non-small-cell lung cancer, and to determine whether or not veterans have a poorer prognosis than civilians. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and computer files of lung cancer patients diagnosed between 1996 and 2000 at our hospital. Patients' clinical characteristics, marital status, staging, treatment modality, and overall survival were analyzed and compared, based on the patients' standing as veterans or civilians. RESULTS During this period, 3,727 lung cancer patients (2,386 veterans, 1,341 civilians) were diagnosed. The overall survival of all lung cancer patients showed that civilians had better survival than veterans (median, 12 months vs. 8 months, p < 0.001). Survival of non-small-cell lung cancer patients was also better for civilians than veterans (median, 13 months vs. 9 months, p < 0.001). Surgery was the main treatment modality in both stage I and II civilians and veterans. A greater proportion of veterans in stage II and III received radiotherapy than civilians in the same stage, with a statistically significant difference in stage III patients (p < 0.001). Multivariate survival analysis showed that age and sex were independent risk factors for mortality, while standing (veteran or civilian) was not, in both all lung cancers and non-small-cell lung cancer alone. CONCLUSION Veterans, who mainly came from China, had a poorer prognosis than civilians when suffering from lung cancer in Taiwan, due to age and gender, rather than standing.