[Results of operative treatment of bronchial carcinoma (author's transl)]

Abstract

Between 1960 and 1974 a total of 14 937 patients were treated in 16 German surgical departments for bronchial carcinoma. 70% proved to be inoperable. In 30% the tumour was resected, the five-year survival rate of those patients operated on before 1969 being 23%. In suitable cases, lobectomy proved to be a satisfactory radical method of resection in parallel with pneumonectomy, while the operative risk of the latter was twice as high. The operative risk decreased by half during the period of observation. Best results of tumour resection were achieved when in the early stage. The prognosis of anaplastic carcinoma was not significantly worse than that of other histological types. Further improvement in the results of surgical treatment of bronchial carcinoma are to be expected if the operative risk can be decreased further and more patients can be operated on at an earlier stage.