Superior sulcus tumors with vertebral body involvement: a multimodality approach

Superior sulcus tumors with involvement of the spine have historically been considered unresectable. We have previously documented a 2-year survival of 54% in patients treated with a multimodality approach. This work builds on our previous experience and examines the long-term outcomes.

A retrospective review was performed on patients with superior sulcus non-small cell lung cancer tumors with involvement of the vertebral column (n = 39) treated at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from 1990 to 2006. Their clinical and pathologic data were analyzed for short- and long-term outcomes.

Group 1 included 8 (21%) patients with neuroforamen or transverse process involvement, group 2 had 16 (41%) patients with partial vertebrectomy, and group 3 had 15 (38%) patients with total vertebrectomy. There were 2 (5%) postoperative deaths, and 11 (28%) patients had major complications. Margins were positive in 17 (44%) patients. Recurrence occurred in 23 (59%) patients and was local in 11 (28%) patients, distant in 11 (28%) patients, and both in 1 (3%) patient. Median time to local recurrence was 7 months in patients with positive margins and has not been reached for patients with negative margins (P = .007). Median, 2-year, and 5-year overall survival was 18 months, 47%, and 27%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, the only independent predictor of shorter survival was nodal metastases (P = .001; hazard ratio, 6.5; 95% confidence interval, 2.2-19.2).

An aggressive multimodality approach involving surgical resection can be performed with acceptable morbidity in highly selected patients with superior sulcus tumors and vertebral invasion at a specialized center. Encouraging long-term survival can be achieved in patients with negative margins and no lymph node involvement.