PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - GAETANO ROCCO
AU  - TOMMASANGELO PETITTI
AU  - NICOLA MARTUCCI
AU  - MARIA CARMELA PICCIRILLO
AU  - ANTONELLO LA ROCCA
AU  - CARMINE LA MANNA
AU  - GIUSEPPE DE LUCA
AU  - ALESSANDRO MORABITO
AU  - ANDREA CHIRICO
AU  - RENATO FRANCO
AU  - ROSANNA ACCARDO
AU  - NICOLA NORMANNO
AU  - GERARDO BOTTI
AU  - SERGIO LODATO
AU  - GENNARO CILIBERTO
AU  - TONINO PEDICINI
AU  - ANTONIO GIORDANO
TI  - Survival After Surgical Treatment of Lung Cancer Arising in the Population Exposed to Illegal Dumping of Toxic Waste in the Land of Fires (‘Terra dei Fuochi’) of Southern Italy
DP  - 2016 May 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 2119--2124
VI  - 36
IP  - 5
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/36/5/2119.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/36/5/2119.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2016 May 01; 36
AB  - Aim: Terra dei Fuochi (TdF), the so-called ‘Land of Fires’ in Southern Italy, is an agricultural territory characterized by illegal dumping of toxic waste known to occur since the 1980s. It is unknown whether prognosis of patients developing cancer and living in that area may differ compared to those living in areas not exposed to this specific type of pollution. We retrospectively analyzed the 5-year survival rates of patients originating from the TdF diagnosed with lung cancer compared to patients from other areas. Materials and Methods: Patients consecutively operated on for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between November 2004 and April 2013 at the Division of Thoracic Surgery of the National Cancer Institute of Naples were eligible. The study outcome was overall survival (OS). In addition, the TdF and non-TdF groups were compared through propensity score matching (PSM). Results: Overall, 439 patients with resectable NSCLC were operated on, 123 (28%) from the TdF and 316 (72%) from other referral centers of our catchment area. There were 301 males and 138 females; the median age of the entire surgical population was 65 years (range=25-83) years. Apart from a different prevalence of hypertension and underweight patients, preoperative factors were evenly distributed between the two groups. At univariate analysis, OS was not different between the TdF and non TdF group (median 72 and 68 months, respectively; p=0.75 log-rank test). Multivariable analysis confirmed that living in the TdF area had no prognostic impact (hazard ratio=1.05; 95% confidence interval=0.70-1.57; p=0.78) on OS. PSM confirmed no statistically significant difference of OS (hazard ratio=1.01, 95% confidence interval=0.67-1.52; p=0.93). Conclusion: Following surgery for lung cancer, TdF and non-TdF surgical candidates had similar long-term survival. Originating from the TdF does not seem to be associated with worse outcomes after surgical treatment of patients with lung cancer.