Surgery challenges and postoperative complications of lung cancer after neoadjuvant immunotherapy

In China, real-world data on surgical challenges and postoperative complications after neoadjuvant immunotherapy of lung cancer are limited.

Patients were retrospectively enrolled from January 2018 to January 2023, and their clinical and pathological characters were subsequently analyzed. Surgical difficulty was categorized into a binary classification according to surgical duration: challenging or routine. Postoperative complications were graded using Clavien-Dindo grades. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors affecting the duration of surgery and postoperative complications greater than Clavien-Dindo grade 2.

In total, 261 patients were included. Of these, stage III patients accounted for 62.5% (163/261) at initial diagnosis, with 25.3% (66/261) at stage IIIB. Central-type non-small-cell lung cancer accounted for 61.7% (161/261). One hundred and forty patients underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and lobectomy accounted for 53.3% (139/261) of patients. Surgical time over average duration was defined as challenging surgeries, accounting for 43.7%. The postoperative complications rate of 261 patients was only 22.2%. Smoking history (odds ratio [OR] = 9.96, 95% [CI] 1.15-86.01, p = 0.03), chemoimmunotherapy (OR = 2.89, 95% CI 1.22-6.86, p = 0.02), and conversion to open surgery (OR = 11.3, 95% CI 1.38-92.9, p = 0.02) were identified as independent risk factors for challenging surgeries, while pneumonectomy (OR = 0.36, 95% CI 0.15-0.86, p= 0.02) was a protective factor. Meanwhile, pneumonectomy (OR = 7.51, 95% CI 2.40-23.51, p < 0.01) and challenging surgeries (OR = 5.53, 95% CI 1.50-20.62, p = 0.01) were found to be risk factors for postoperative complications greater than Clavien-Dindo grade 2.

Compared to immunotherapy alone or in combination with apatinib, neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy could increase the difficulty of surgery while the incidence of postoperative complications remained acceptable. The conversion to open surgery and pneumonectomy after neoadjuvant immunotherapy should be reduced.