Second Primary Lung Cancers Demonstrate Similar Survival With Wedge Resection and Lobectomy

Patients who have undergone curative surgery for stage I lung cancer require continued surveillance owing to the risk of a second primary lung cancer developing. Early diagnosis allows for prompt intervention. However, as in primary cancers, the role of wedge vs lobar resections remains controversial.

The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database was examined from 2004 to 2012 and all pathologically proven stage I lung cancer patients who underwent cancer-directed surgery were selected. Cases in which a second primary lung cancer developed 6 or more months after diagnosis of the first cancer were analyzed for survival after surgical treatment.

Second primary lung cancer was identified in 625 patients, of whom 331 (53%) were diagnosed with stage I disease; 43.8% of patients underwent surgery alone, 30.9% received radiation alone, and 21.0% received neither surgery nor radiation. Of the patients who underwent surgery, 57.7% received wedge resection and 36.5% received a lobectomy. Surgical intervention was a positive predictor of survival-both wedge resection and lobectomy exhibited improved outcomes vs no surgery-but there was no statistically significant difference between the two surgical modalities.

Wedge and lobar resections demonstrate similar survival for second primary lung cancers.