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. 2012 Feb;45(1):40-4.
doi: 10.5090/kjtcs.2012.45.1.40. Epub 2012 Feb 7.

Surgical outcomes in small cell lung cancer

Min Ho Ju  1 , Hyeong Ryul Kim, Joon-Bum Kim, Yong Hee Kim, Dong Kwan Kim, Seung-Il Park
Affiliations

Surgical outcomes in small cell lung cancer

Min Ho Ju et al. Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

Background: The experience of a single-institution regarding surgery for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) was reviewed to evaluate the surgical outcomes and prognoses.

Materials and methods: From July 1990 to December 2009, thirty-four patients (28 male) underwent major pulmonary resection and lymph node dissection for SCLC. Lobectomy was performed in 24 patients, pneumonectomy in eight, bilobectomy in one, and segmentectomy in one. Surgical complications, mortality, the disease-free survival (DFS) rate, and the overall survival rate were analyzed retrospectively.

Results: The median follow-up period was 26 months (range, 4 to 241 months), and there was one surgical mortality (2.9%). Six patients (17.6%) experienced recurrence, all of which were systemic. Eight patients died during follow-up; four died of disease progression and the other four died of pneumonia or of another non-cancerous cause. The three-year DFS rate was 79.2±2.6% and the overall survival rate was 66.4±10.5%. Recurrence or death was significantly prevalent in the patients with lymph node metastasis (p=0.001) as well as in those who did not undergo adjuvant chemotherapy (p=0.008). The three-year survival rate was significantly greater in the patients with pathologic stage I/II cancer than in those with stage III cancer (84% vs. 13%, p=0.001).

Conclusion: Major pulmonary resection for small cell lung cancer is feasible in selected patients. Patients with pathologic stage I or II disease showed an excellent survival rate after surgery and adjuvant treatment. Prospective randomized studies will be needed to define the role of surgery in early-stage small cell lung cancer.

Keywords: Carcinoma, oat cell; Lung neoplasms; Lung surgery.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overall survival rate determined using the Kaplan-Meier method. The overall survival rate was 66.4±10.5% at five years after surgery.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Freedom from recurrence rate after surgical resection, determined using the Kaplan-Meier method. The freedom from recurrence rate was 79.2±2.6% at five years after surgery.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison of the survival rates in the stage I, II, and III groups. The stage I and II groups showed a significantly higher survival rate than the stage III group (p=0.001).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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