[Surgery of microcellular bronchial cancer: retrospective multicenter study apropos of 110 cases]

The results of a multicentric retrospective study of 110 cases of small cell bronchial cancer are reported. In 57 of these patients the histological diagnosis was unknown before surgery. Among the remaining 53 patients, 22 were operated upon immediately and 31 after chemo-and/or radiotherapy (12 full responders, 10 partial responders, 5 no change and 4 in relapse). Operative data were as follows: 100 excisions and 10 exploratory thoracotomies; 19 perioperative complications, including 12 deaths; excision considered complete in 78 cases; pericardial involvement in 14 cases; invasion of the hilar lymph nodes in 57 cases, of the mediastinal lymph nodes in 39 cases; positive bronchial section in 16 cases. Overall median survival was 13.8 months for all patients and 18.3 months (perioperative deaths excluded) for patients whose tumour had been excised. At the moment, 46 patients have relapsed with recurrence at the initial site of malignancy alone in 6 cases (13%) and both at this site and at one or several metastatic sites in 10 cases (21.7%). Nineteen patients have survived for more than 2 years. An analysis of the subgroups in this population showed that the longest survivals were obtained in patients who had undergone preoperative chemotherapy.