Bronchogenic carcinoma treated by concomitant resection of lung and chest wall

Chest wall invasion by bronchogenic carcinoma is found in 5% of all cases of pulmonary carcinoma. During the last 3 years, 11 cases of lung cancer with chest wall involvement have been encountered at the Jackson Veterans Administration Medical Center. We reviewed these cases to reassess the role of concomitant resection of the lung and chest wall. From this experience, we have concluded that (1) chest wall involvement is potentially curable; (2) chest wall resection adds little if any morbidity to the procedure; (3) resections of fewer than four ribs usually require only soft tissue coverage, without a prosthesis; (4) patients with squamous cell cancer have longer survival; (5) chest wall resection is highly effective in the relief of pain due to invasion of the chest wall; and (6) survival is greater than in other stage III lung carcinomas and is more closely related to nodal involvement than to chest wall invasion.