Lung cancer-specific symptoms and fear of cancer recurrence among recurrence-free non-small cell lung cancer survivors

Lung cancer survivors have more psychosocial problems, including depression and anxiety disorder, than other cancer survivors. Lung cancer-specific symptoms, such as cough, dyspnea, or pain in chest, might increase FCR among survivors. We aimed to evaluate the association between lung cancer-specific symptoms and FCR among recurrence-free non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survivors.

This is a cross-sectional study. Recurrence-free NSCLC survivors were recruited from January to October 2020 at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea. We measured FCR using the Korean version of FCRI-SF and categorized them into three groups: non-clinical FCR (nFCR, < 13), subclinical FCR (sFCR, 13 to 21), and clinical FCR (cFCR, ≥ 22). Lung cancer-specific symptoms were measured using the Korean version of EORTC QLQ-LC13 and EORTC QLQ-C30.

A total of 727 survivors were enrolled. One-third (30.8%) of survivors reported sFCR, and 19.7% had cFCR. In a multivariate analysis, survivors with severe pain in chest were 4.7 times (95% CI: 2.4–9.0) more likely to experience cFCR compared to those without it. Mild dyspnea (OR 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.7) and mild dysphagia (OR 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3–4.4) were associated with cFCR. Survivors with sFCR (Coef. − 6.3, 95% CI: − 9.8, − 2.8) and cFCR (Coef. − 11.3, 95% CI: − 15.5, − 7.2) had poorer quality of life compared to survivors with nFCR.

NSCLC survivors were experiencing lung cancer-specific symptoms even a few years after treatment, which were associated with cFCR, resulting in poor HRQoL. It is necessary to develop a lung cancer-specific symptom checklist and use it during even long-term surveillance.