Outcomes of surgically managed primary lung sarcomas: a National Cancer Database analysis

Primary lung sarcoma (PLS) represents a rare form of lung cancer with outcomes that are poorly defined by small datasets. We sought to characterize clinical and pathological characteristics and associated survival within the surgically managed subgroup of these unusual pulmonary malignancies.

We performed a retrospective analysis of the National Cancer Database (NCDB), which was queried for cases of surgically managed PLS diagnosed between 2004-2014. Adjusted mortality was evaluated in a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model and compared to surgically manage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients from the same time period.

A total of 695 patients with surgically managed PLS were identified with 37 different histologic subtypes. The mean age of diagnosis was 57.7 years (range, 18-90 years). A majority of patients underwent surgical resection alone (64.3%) with an estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) of 51%. The multivariable Cox model identified increasing age, Charlson-Deyo score ≥2, high tumor grade, tumor size >5 cm, positive margins, and positive lymph nodes to be associated with higher risk for mortality (P<0.05). Compared to 101,428 surgically managed patients with adenocarcinoma, PLS patients were younger with fewer comorbidities but had larger tumors, higher grade tumors, and were more likely node negative (P<0.001). Surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with worse survival than surgery alone (HR 1.41, 95% CI: 1.05-1.88). The extent of parenchymal resection (lobar vs. sublobar) was not predictive for survival. Five-year OS was lower for patients with PLS (44%) than adenocarcinoma (53.6%, P<0.001).

The survival of surgically managed PLS is reasonable and impacted by tumor attributes and the completeness of surgical resection. Further study to define the role of multimodal therapy is indicated.