[Survival following surgery for bronchopulmonary cancer. Results after five years]

The authors study the actuarial survival of 253 primary bronchopulmonary cancers operated in Geneva between 1967 and 1976. The overall operative mortality was 9.88%. The overall survival of resections alone was 26.6% at 5 years. The small size of the tumor, the absence of mediastinal extension and an epidermoid histology are the best survival rate factors: 43.2% of stage I cases survive at 5 years against 4.86% of stage III cases. The accidental discovery of as asymptomatic tumor gives a hope of survival of 43.9% at 5 years. Yet again this demonstrates the importance of mass screening by radiophotography. Surgery thus maintains its central role in the treatment of this disease, whilst chemo-, radio- and immunotherapy have not yet revealed their full possibilities.