Abstract
BACKGROUND: Few models have been developed to predict survival outcomes for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, we aimed to establish a nomogram for the prediction of cancer-specific survival (CSS) in LUAD patients which can be further developed as a convenient web-based calculator. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 50,007 LUAD patients selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) 18 registry database. To enhance the reliability of the analysis, the patients' data were further randomly divided into the training cohort (70%) and validation cohort (30%). The optimal age cut-off points were determined using X-tile software, and patients were divided into three age groups: 10-72, 73-79, and 80-99 years. We selected independent prognostic factors from 17 variables by Cox regression, and plotted a visual nomogram to predict the 1-, 3-, and 5-year CSS. The predictive performance of the nomogram was evaluated through the concordance index (C-index), calibration curve and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. To facilitate CSS forecast, a web-based calculator has subsequently been developed. RESULTS: We selected sex, age, race, marital status, N stage, tumor size, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and metastasis (bone, brain, liver, and lung) as independent prognostic factors. The C-index was 0.779 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.775-0.783] in the training set prediction model, and 0.782 (95% CI: 0.778-0.786) in the validation set. ROC analysis showed that area under the curve (AUC) values were 0.700, 0.733 and 0.669 for the 1-, 3- and 5-year CSS in the training set and 0.700, 0.744 and 0.669 in the validation set, respectively. In the nomogram calibration curve, there was strong correlation between the observed and predictive values. A web-based calculator can be accessed at: https://hjhlovelfb.shinyapps.io/DynNomapp/. CONCLUSIONS: This nomogram model has good predictive power and can help clinicians identify LUAD patients at high risk of cancer-related death. This nomogram is expected to be a precise and personalized tool for predicting the prognosis of patients with LUAD.