Induction therapy followed by surgery for T3-T4/N0 non-small cell lung cancer: long-term results

The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the induction chemoradiotherapy (IT) on the survival pattern in T3/T4-N0 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

The data of 71 patients treated from January 1992 to May 2007 were reviewed. Of these, 31 patients received IT prior to surgery (IT group: T3, 20 patients; and T4, 11 patients), and 40 directly underwent surgery (S group: T3, 34 patients; and T4, 6 patients). Survival rates were compared using the Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox proportional hazards models.

Mean ages were 62.5±9.9 years in the IT group and 67.7±7.1 in the S group. All patients but 1 completed the IT treatment and 27 patients (87%) were operated. A radical resection was possible in 21 patients (78%). In the IT group a complete pathologic response was obtained in 6 patients (22%), where 8 patients ended up in pI stage, 7 in pII stage, and 6 in pIII stage. The overall 5-year survival (long-term survival [LTS]) and disease-free 5-year survival (DFS) for the entire cohort were 40% and 34%, respectively. No significant differences were found when LTS in the IT group (44%) and in the S group (37%) were compared. At multivariate analysis, the completeness of resection was the only independent predictive factor (hazard ratio [HR]=5.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.55 to 10.28) while Cox multivariate analysis (on the IT group only) confirmed the critical role of the pathologic downstaging (HR=4.62; 95% CI=1.54 to 13.89).

A multimodal strategy with IT treatment followed by surgery is a safe and reasonable treatment in T3/T4-N0 NSCLC patients, but no clear evidence of prognostic improvement may be assumed at the present time. Nevertheless, patients with radical resection and complete pathologic response have a very rewarding survival.