Surgical challenges in multimodal treatment of N2-stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, especially mediastinal lymph node metastasis-positive stage IIIA-N2 cancer, is a heterogeneous disease state characterized by anatomically locally advanced disease with latent micrometastases. Thus, surgical resection or radiotherapy alone has historically failed to cure this disease. During the last three decades, persistent efforts have been made to develop a suitable treatment modality to overcome these problems using chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy with surgical resection. However, the role of surgical resection remains unclear, and the standard treatment for stage IIIA-N2 disease is concurrent chemoradiotherapy. In general, adjuvant chemotherapy is indicated for completely resected pathological stage IB disease or lymph node metastasis-positive pathological stage II or IIIA disease. Platinum-based doublet cytotoxic chemotherapy is currently the standard regimen. Additionally, post-operative radiotherapy might be indicated for post-operatively proven mediastinal lymph node metastasis; i.e. clinical N0-1 and pathological N2 disease. With the remarkable progression that has recently been made in the field of chemotherapy, such as advances in molecular targeting agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors, the basic policy of chemotherapy has been shifting to personalized treatment based on the individual patient's oncogene driver mutation status, immune status and other parameters. The same trend is being seen in the treatment of stage IIIA-N2 disease. We should consider the past and upcoming results of several clinical trials to optimize the coming era of personalized treatment.

Keywords: adjuvant treatment; clinical stage IIIA; induction treatment; non-small cell lung cancer.