Segmentectomy or Wedge Resection in Stage IA Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma?

Objectives: We performed this study to compare survival outcomes of segmentectomy (SG) and wedge resection (WR) in stage IA lung squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC) and lung adenocarcinoma (AD). Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry (SEER), we identified 1529 and 4070 patients with stage IA SQCC and AD, respectively, who had complete clinical information between 2004 and 2015. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis to determine the propensity score for patients with limited resection based on the preoperative characteristics of patients. Lung cancer-specific survival (LCSS) was compared in patients treated with WR and SG after adjusting, stratifying, or matching lung cancer patients according to propensity score. Results: Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference in survival curves (log rank P=0.01) for patients with stage IA SQCC between SG and WR. But there was no statistically significant difference in survival curves (log rank P>0.05) in patients with stage IA AD between the two limited resections. Compared with the WR, The hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of SG were 0.689 (0.519-0.914) and 0.896 (0.752-1.067) in patients with stage IA SQCC and AD, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests that SG can yield superior survival outcome compared with WR in patients with stage IA SQCC. However, the survival outcomes of SG and WR are generally equivalent in patients with stage IA AD.