Management of endobronchial tumors: a comparative study

Between September 1982 and July 1987 we treated 102 patients with endobronchial or endotracheal disease with one or a combination of the following modalities: CO2 laser, Nd:YAG laser, and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Many patients had multiple treatments and treatment sites. In all, 259 Nd:YAG treatments were performed on 154 sites in 80 patients, 118 PDT treatments were performed on 87 sites in 45 patients, and nine CO2 treatments were performed on nine sites in nine patients. Of the 71 patients who died, 19 lived longer than 6 months, and seven lived longer than 1 year. A total of 11 patients have survived for more than 1 year, including four who are still alive 18, 22, 33, and 54 months after treatment. Five patients achieved a status of "no evidence of disease," and at autopsy, two others had no evidence of disease to the treated site. All seven of these patients were treated with PDT only. There were no intraoperative deaths or cases of intraoperative bleeding or smoke with PDT. Eight patients died from pulmonary hemorrhage 2 to 9 weeks after treatment. Four had been treated with Nd:YAG therapy alone and four with PDT alone. Evaluation of the survival rate in this study must consider that this therapy involves severely ill patients with a high potential for intraoperative or perioperative fatality. Some patients who were near death before treatment have enjoyed quality survival for over 1 year.