Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1986 Jun;41(6):479–482. doi: 10.1136/thx.41.6.479

Survival in small cell lung carcinoma after surgery.

H R Sørensen, C Lund, P Alstrup
PMCID: PMC460369  PMID: 3024349

Abstract

In a retrospective study of long term survival in patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung who had been treated purely by surgery, 1820 patients with lung cancer seen during the 15 years 1962-77 were reviewed and reclassified histologically and according to the TNM system. Of these patients, 924 had had resections and 284 exploratory thoracotomies. Cancer chemotherapy was not used in this period and radiotherapy was given only occasionally as palliative treatment. Seventy seven of the patients having pulmonary resections had small cell carcinoma (8.4%), and there were six survivors among the 71 with T1-2, N0-1, M0 tumours. The five and 10 year survival rates were both 12%. The histological specimens from these six patients with a small cell carcinoma who survived more than 10 years were re-evaluated and confirmed as small cell by an independent group of pathologists. It seems justified to conclude that a selected group of patients with small cell carcinoma should be treated by surgery alone without adjuvant chemotherapy, which might reduce the long term survival.

Full text

PDF
479

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Belcher J. R. Thirty years of surgery for carcinoma of the bronchus. Thorax. 1983 Jun;38(6):428–432. doi: 10.1136/thx.38.6.428. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Davis S., Stanley K. E., Yesner R., Kuang D. T., Morris J. F. Small-cell carcinoma of the lung--survival according to histologic subtype: a Veterans Administration Lung Group Study. Cancer. 1981 Apr 1;47(7):1863–1866. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19810401)47:7<1863::aid-cncr2820470724>3.0.co;2-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ettinger D. S., Lagakos S. Phase III study of CCNU, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine, and VP-16 in small-cell carcinoma of the lung. Cancer. 1982 Apr 15;49(8):1544–1554. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19820415)49:8<1544::aid-cncr2820490806>3.0.co;2-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fox W., Scadding J. G. Medical Research Council comparative trial of surgery and radiotherapy for primary treatment of small-celled or oat-celled carcinoma of bronchus. Ten-year follow-up. Lancet. 1973 Jul 14;2(7820):63–65. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(73)93260-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Freise G., Gabler A., Liebig S. Bronchial carcinoma and long-term survival. Retrospective study of 433 patients who underwent resection. Thorax. 1978 Apr;33(2):228–234. doi: 10.1136/thx.33.2.228. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Greenberg E. R., Korson R., Baker J., Barrett J., Baron J. A., Yates J. Incidence of lung cancer by cell type: a population-based study in New Hampshire and Vermont. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1984 Mar;72(3):599–603. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Greschuchna D., Maassen W. The importance of histological classification and tumor staging for prognosis after resection of bronchial carcinoma. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1980 Apr;28(2):115–119. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-1022061. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hande K. R., Des Prez R. M. Current perspectives in small cell lung cancer. Chest. 1984 May;85(5):669–677. doi: 10.1378/chest.85.5.669. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Harper P. G., Houang M., Spiro S. G., Geddes D., Hodson M., Souhami R. L. Computerized axial tomography in the pretreatment assessment of small-cell carcinoma of the bronchus. Cancer. 1981 Apr 1;47(7):1775–1780. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19810401)47:7<1775::aid-cncr2820470709>3.0.co;2-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Higgins G. A., Shields T. W., Keehn R. J. The solitary pulmonary nodule. Ten-year follow-up of veterans administration-armed forces cooperative study. Arch Surg. 1975 May;110(5):570–575. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1975.01360110116019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hirsch F. R., Matthews M. J., Yesner R. Histopathologic classification of small cell carcinoma of the lung: comments based on an interobserver examination. Cancer. 1982 Oct 1;50(7):1360–1366. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19821001)50:7<1360::aid-cncr2820500723>3.0.co;2-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lamb D. Histological classification of lung cancer. Thorax. 1984 Mar;39(3):161–165. doi: 10.1136/thx.39.3.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Meyer J. A. Effect of histologically verified TNM stage on disease control in treated small cell carcinoma of the lung. Cancer. 1985 Apr 15;55(8):1747–1752. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19850415)55:8<1747::aid-cncr2820550822>3.0.co;2-h. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mountain C. F. Clinical biology of small cell carcinoma: relationship to surgical therapy. Semin Oncol. 1978 Sep;5(3):272–279. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Shepherd F. A., Ginsberg R. J., Evans W. K., Feld R., Cooper J. D., Ilves R., Todd T. R., Pearson F. G., Waters P. F., Baker M. A. Reduction in local recurrence and improved survival in surgically treated patients with small cell lung cancer. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1983 Oct;86(4):498–506. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shields T. W., Higgins G. A., Jr, Matthews M. J., Keehn R. J. Surgical resection in the management of small cell carcinoma of the lung. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1982 Oct;84(4):481–488. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Shore D. F., Paneth M. Survival after resection of small cell carcinoma of the bronchus. Thorax. 1980 Nov;35(11):819–822. doi: 10.1136/thx.35.11.819. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Spiro S., Goldstraw P. The staging of lung cancer. Thorax. 1984 Jun;39(6):401–407. doi: 10.1136/thx.39.6.401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. TAYLOR A. B., SHINTON N. K., WATERHOUSE J. A. Histology of bronchial carcinoma in relation to prognosis. Thorax. 1963 Jun;18:178–181. doi: 10.1136/thx.18.2.178. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Volk S. A., Mansour R. F., Gandara D. R., Redmond J., 3rd Morbidity in long-term survivors of small cell carcinoma of the lung. Cancer. 1984 Jul 1;54(1):25–27. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19840701)54:1<25::aid-cncr2820540106>3.0.co;2-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Vollmer R. T., Birch R., Ogden L., Crissman J. D. Subclassification of small cell cancer of the lung: the Southeastern Cancer Study Group experience. Hum Pathol. 1985 Mar;16(3):247–252. doi: 10.1016/s0046-8177(85)80010-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Vollmer R. T., Ogden L., Crissman J. D. Separation of small-cell from non-small-cell lung cancer. The Southeastern Cancer Study Group pathologists' experience. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1984 Oct;108(10):792–794. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES