[Value of a plan for surveillance of patients operated on for bronchial cancer]

The modalities and results of surveillance of 578 patients operated upon for bronchial cancer are reported. Planned surveillance, introduced in 1981, is compared with the surveillance carried out from 1977 to 1980. The plan includes 4 radiological and clinical examinations during the 1st year, 3 during the 2nd year, 2 during the 3rd year and 1 per year thereafter. Bronchial fibroscopy is performed 9 and 18 months after surgery. In the 3rd post-operative month 10% of the patients had died, 4% had been lost sight of, and 86% had presented themselves for control examination. Regularity in attending control sessions has improved since planned surveillance was introduced: on average, the number of examinations is complied with, without modifications in the out-patient/in-patient ratio. Endoscopies are performed in 70% of the cases. Multiplying control examinations does not noticeably increases the number of pathological findings. Many relapses diagnosed on symptomatic grounds were, in fact, inaccessible to radiology and endoscopy. Five out of 19 local-regional relapses were diagnosed by fibroscopy. It is concluded that there is no need to increase the number of consultations, and that the complementary examinations performed should be more carefully selected.