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Published on: February 12, 2017
Conversion Surgery for Initially Unresectable Stage Ⅲ Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer After Induction Treatment of
Mingliang Wang1, Xiaojun Wang2, Ran Yang3
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; Department of Thoracic Surgery, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Background:
Immuno-chemotherapy has demonstrated significant anti-tumor effects in patients with resectable nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Additionally, for patients initially diagnosed with unresectable stage III NSCLC, induction immuno-chemotherapy may achieve tumor downstaging, enabling conversion to resectable disease allowing for by R0 resection. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of induction immuno-chemotherapy followed by conversion surgery in unresectable stage III NSCLC.
Patients And Methods:
A total of 113 patients with unresectable stage Ⅲ NSCLC who received induction immuno-chemotherapy at three institutions in China from March 2019 to April 2022 were retrospectively identified. After 2-4 cycles of immuno-chemotherapy, a multisiciplinary team (MDT) reassessed the tumor response and resectability in each case. Surgical resection was performed for patients who achieved tumor downstaging to resectable disease. Surgical and oncological outcomes of the patients were analyzed.
Results:
Of the 113 patients treated with immuno-chemotherapy, 79 (69.9%) achieved conversion to resectable state and underwent surgery. Surgical procedures included lobectomy in 55 (69.6%) patients, sleeve lobectomy in 14 (17.7%) patients, bilobectomy in 6 (7.6%) patients, and pneumonectomy in 4 (5.1%) patients, achieving an R0 resection rate of 98.7% (78/79). No surgical-related 30-day or 90-day mortalities were recorded, although 17 patients (21.5%) experienced postoperative complications. In terms of pathological response, 44 (55.7%) patients achieved major pathologic response and 25 (31.6%) patients achieved complete pathologic response. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was not reached. The 12- and 24-month PFS rates were 82.3% and 72.2%, while OS rates were 94.9% and 84.5%, respectively.
Conclusion:
Conversion surgery following immuno-chemotherapy is feasible and safe, yielding promising pathological responses and favorable survival outcomes for patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC.
