[Clinical epidemiology of primary lung cancer in Tunisia. 100 cases].

Background: Lung cancer is frequent and its incidence is increasing inTunisia and in all over the world. Few published Tunisian studies have described epidemiology of lung cancer.

Aim: To report the clinical features and outcomes of lung cancer in Tunisia from a retrospective review of 100 consecutive patients seen in F.S.I. hospital in La Marsa.

Methods: a retrospective study was carried out 100 cases of bronchial carcinoma seen in pulmonology department between 2000 and 2004. We analysed diagnosis modalities, histological subtypes, staging of the disease, treatment strategies and survival. Survival rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method.

Results: mean age was 59.5 years,sex-ratio at 19.92% of patients were smokers; the average of tobacco consumption was 48.5 PY. The diagnosis was histologically proven in 90% of the cases. Specimen were obtained by bronchoscopy (53.4% of cases), fine-needle lung biopsy (30%), metastasis biopsy (7.7%), surgical biopsy (7.7%) and more rarely by thoracoscopy (1.2%). Histologically, 39% were squamous carcinomas, 30% adenocarcinomas and 8.7% small cell carcinomas. 51% of non small cell lung carcinomas were stage IV, 26% stage IIIB, 9% stage IIIA and 14% were stage I or II. 6 of 10 patients with small cell carcinomas were with disseminated disease. 18 of 21 patients with resectable tumors receive surgery. Patients with locally advanced tumors received combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 14 of 46 stage IV patients received palliative chemotherapy. Survival rate was 18% at 2 years.