TY - JOUR
T1 - Morbidity, mortality and long-term outcome of lung cancer resections performed in palliative intent
AU - Palade, Emanuel
AU - Günter, Jutta
AU - Gomez, Juan M.M.
AU - Wellner, Ulrich F.
AU - Schmid, Severin
AU - Wiesemann, Sebastian
AU - Passlick, Bernward
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Background: Surgery is seldom used for palliation in advanced lung cancer and the published data on this issue are very limited. We aimed to assess the results of palliative lung resections and identify criteria to guide surgical therapy in this situation. Methods: This is a retrospective single-institution analysis of patients with palliative intended lung cancer resection. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression at a statistical significance level of P=0.05. Results: Forty-eight patients received palliative intended lung resections (31 lobectomies, 4 bilobectomies, 13 pneumonectomies) with acceptable rates of severe complications (Clavien-Dindo >IIIa 29%) and 30-day mortality (4%). The most frequent indications were infection and hemoptysis. The median survival for the entire group was 12 months (95% CI: 6.9-17.1 months). Due to unexpectedly favorable histopathologic tumor stage, a switch to curative treatment in 17 completely resected patients resulted in a 2-year survival rate of 46%. In a subgroup of 20 patients with favorable prognostic factors as identified by uni- and multivariable analysis, a median survival of 26 months was observed. Conclusions: In well selected patients with lung cancer, resection in palliative intent can offer symptom relief and even a survival benefit with acceptable morbidity and low mortality. Prognostic factors were identified and can be used to guide operative treatment. Due to the low specificity of CT and FDG-PET/ CT in the presence of inflammation or centrally located lung tumors, a large proportion of patients with lung resection in palliative intent experience a down-staging and frequently also a switch from palliative to curative treatment with additional survival benefit. Factors like expected complete resection, a squamous cell type and the ability to receive adjuvant therapy are useful to support the decision to perform palliative tumor resection.
AB - Background: Surgery is seldom used for palliation in advanced lung cancer and the published data on this issue are very limited. We aimed to assess the results of palliative lung resections and identify criteria to guide surgical therapy in this situation. Methods: This is a retrospective single-institution analysis of patients with palliative intended lung cancer resection. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression at a statistical significance level of P=0.05. Results: Forty-eight patients received palliative intended lung resections (31 lobectomies, 4 bilobectomies, 13 pneumonectomies) with acceptable rates of severe complications (Clavien-Dindo >IIIa 29%) and 30-day mortality (4%). The most frequent indications were infection and hemoptysis. The median survival for the entire group was 12 months (95% CI: 6.9-17.1 months). Due to unexpectedly favorable histopathologic tumor stage, a switch to curative treatment in 17 completely resected patients resulted in a 2-year survival rate of 46%. In a subgroup of 20 patients with favorable prognostic factors as identified by uni- and multivariable analysis, a median survival of 26 months was observed. Conclusions: In well selected patients with lung cancer, resection in palliative intent can offer symptom relief and even a survival benefit with acceptable morbidity and low mortality. Prognostic factors were identified and can be used to guide operative treatment. Due to the low specificity of CT and FDG-PET/ CT in the presence of inflammation or centrally located lung tumors, a large proportion of patients with lung resection in palliative intent experience a down-staging and frequently also a switch from palliative to curative treatment with additional survival benefit. Factors like expected complete resection, a squamous cell type and the ability to receive adjuvant therapy are useful to support the decision to perform palliative tumor resection.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076471452&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.21037/jtd.2019.09.61
DO - 10.21037/jtd.2019.09.61
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85076471452
SN - 2072-1439
VL - 11
SP - 4308
EP - 4318
JO - Journal of Thoracic Disease
JF - Journal of Thoracic Disease
IS - 10
ER -