Shah S, et al. - Using SEER-Medicare data, researchers examined Medicare enrollees with a diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to determine overall survival among these patients in relation to preexisting COPD and its subtypes, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Overall 66,963 lung cancer patients aged ≥66 years and continuously enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B in the 12 months before the diagnosis were examined. COPD was reported prior to NSCLC diagnosis in 22,497 patients (33.60%). Shorter survival was observed among NSCLC patients with preexisting COPD with differences in the early stages of lung cancer. across all stages of NSCLC, median survival for patients with preexisting chronic bronchitis was shorter vs emphysema.