Tuberc Respir Dis.  2004 Nov;57(5):443-448.

Adjuvant Chemotherapy after Surgical Resection for Small-Cell Carcinoma of Lung

• Kim HR
• Jung JH
• Kim HJ
• Yang SH
• Jeong ET

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Small-cell carcinoma of lung has a tendency of rapid growth and early wide metastasis. In spite of high response rate of combination chemotherapy alone or with radiotherapy, overall long-term survival rate is very disappointed. According to autopsy findings, the common cause of failure is local recurrence in primary cancer site. So, surgical resection with combined chemotherapy has been recently attempted for very early stage of small-cell carcinoma of lung.
METHODS
10 patients (TNM I: & II: 5 cases) undergoing surgical resection for small-cell carcinoma of lung with adjuvant chemotherapy in an attempt to prolong survival. Of these, 9 patients received chemotherapy, and retrospective study was undertaken for survival (Kaplan-Meier analysis).
RESULTS
Median survival time was 26 months, 2-, 5-year survival rate was 68.6%, 46.7%. If 1 patient without chemotherapy was excluded, 2-, 5-year survival rate was 76.2%, 50.8%. No survival difference was seen between patients with TNM I, II stages.
CONCLUSION
Adjuvant chemotherapy after surgical resection results in prolonged survival for patients with TNM stage I, II small-cell carcinoma of lung.

Keyword

Small-cell lung carcinoma; Operation; Chemotherapy; Survival

MeSH Terms

Autopsy
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant*
Drug Therapy
Drug Therapy, Combination
Humans
Lung*
Neoplasm Metastasis
Radiotherapy
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Survival Rate