Salvage Surgery Compared to Surgery After Induction Chemoradiation Therapy for Advanced Lung Cancer

Salvage surgery is performed for selected patients with relapses of locally advanced lung cancer after definitive chemoradiation therapy (CRT), and it seems to be effective. To assess the feasibility of salvage surgery after definitive CRT, this study compared clinical outcomes of surgery after definitive CRT with those of surgery after induction CRT.

Medical records of patients who underwent surgery from January 2000 to January 2018 were reviewed. The study compared patients with salvage anatomic pulmonary resection after definitive CRT with patients with surgery after induction CRT in terms of perioperative and long-term outcomes.

A total of 23 patients underwent salvage surgery after definitive CRT for locally advanced lung cancer (salvage group), and 36 underwent surgery after induction CRT for cN2 stage III non-small cell lung cancer (induction CRT group). The surgical procedures in the salvage group were 2 segmentectomies, 13 lobectomies, 1 bilobectomy, and 7 pneumonectomies, and those in the induction CRT group were 34 lobectomies and 2 bilobectomies. There was no 30-day or 90-day mortality in either group. The 5-year overall survival was 44.7% for the salvage group and 58.6% for the induction CRT group. The 5-year progression-free interval was 42.2% for the salvage group and 47.7% for the induction CRT group.

Salvage anatomic pulmonary resection after definitive CRT for locally advanced lung cancer is feasible, with acceptable morbidity and prognosis in highly selected patients.