[Surgical indications of small cell carcinoma of the lung]

A statistical analysis of 143 cases of small cell carcinoma treated at the Department of Surgery of Tokyo Medical College in the 15-year period from January 1968 to December 1982 was performed. The results suggest that surgery is not indicated in any oat cell case, with the possible exception of an extremely rare early stage case. However, since here is a significant difference in the survival of stage I and II cases of the intermediate cell type, surgery can be indicated in certain such cases. Even in such cases surgery should be thought of as merely one step of induction therapy. In addition, it is necessary to tailor adjuvant chemotherapy, keeping in mind that the most frequent causes of death in cases of small cell carcinoma of the lung are local failure, metastasis to intraabdominal organs and to the brain.