[Long-term results after recurrence of completely resected primary lung cancer]

The recurrence rate of complete surgical resection and the long-term results following recurrence have rarely been reported. Whether patients with recurrence could be cured is still unknown. Patients who underwent complete surgical resection for lung cancer from 1981 to 1999 (n=945) and were followed-up for more than 5 years were retrospectively reviewed. Recurrent diseases were treated by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy when surgical treatment was not indicated. Postoperative 5-year survival in 585 patients (62%) without recurrence and in 360 patients (38%) with recurrent diseases were 84 and 27%, respectively. The recurrence rates of stage I patients (n=164), stage II (n=55), stage III (n=127) and stage IV (n=13) were 26, 52, 68 and 93%, respectively. The 5-year survival rates of these patients were 36, 23, 19 and 7%, respectively. The period between the operation and the first recurrence was approximately 2 (0-9) years and the patients with recurrence died in about 1 (0-9) year. Four patients actually survived more than 10 years after the first recurrence. The recurrence rate after complete surgical resection of lung cancer was 38% in all and it increased along with the advanced pathological stages.