john Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 New from Mayo http://www.oncolink.com/resources/artic ... &year=2006 Pulmonary resection extends survival in early small cell lung cancer Reuters Health Posting Date: June 1, 2006 Last Updated: 2006-06-01 12:12:00 -0400 (Reuters Health) NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pulmonary resection of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) safely improves long-term survival, notably with early-stage disease, according to a report in the May issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Long-term survival in SCLC is poor despite good clinical responses to combination chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the authors explain, with most relapses coming from local recurrences. Dr. Vidhan Chandra and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota investigated the postoperative outcomes of 77 patients who underwent surgery for SCLC. Curative resection was done in 46 patients (60%), the authors report. There were only two perioperative deaths -- one from pulmonary embolism and another from unknown causes. A total of 19 patients had complications, including atrial arrhythmia, pneumonia, and persistent air leaks. After a median follow-up of 19 months, the results indicate, 20 patients were still alive. Excluding the 10 patients who only underwent biopsy, the estimated 5-year survival was 36% for patients with stage I disease, 40% for stage II patients, 17% for stage III patients, and 0% for stage IV patients. Median survival was higher for patients who underwent curative surgery (25 months) than for patients who had a palliative procedure (16 months), the researchers note. "Although we were unable to demonstrate that pulmonary resection significantly influenced survival," the investigators write, "our patients survived longer when curative pulmonary resection was performed. Our inability to show a statistically significantly difference is likely because of the limited number of patients." In a multivariable analysis, only postsurgical tumor stage (III/IV versus I/II) significantly predicted survival. "Pulmonary resection in patients with stage I or stage II SCLC is safe with low mortality and morbidity," the authors conclude. "Curative resection is associated with long-term survival in early stage SCLC and should be considered in selected patients." Mayo Clin Proc 2006;81:619-624. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary colleen Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I have never heard of surgical resection in small cell - very interesting! I have also never seen the I -IV staging system applied to small cell. Wonder if the criteria is identical to the staging criteria for non-small cell. Also interesting is the fact that the Stage II patients had better survival than the Stage I patients; I would guess this was related to the sample size. Just thinking out loud, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.S. I Love You Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 My wife was resected because her tumor was so small that was the only way they could biopsy it. When it appeared to be a carcinoid tumor, the surgeon opted to do a lobectomy. It later was diagnosed as Small Cell. We've always felt that was one of the key reasons she's had such a good response to the treatments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ztweb Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 OK...here is where I am confused. Since when do they stage small cell? I am interested in talking to dad's onc about this, as dad doctors there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 According to the link below, 5% of SCLC may be eligible for surgery. http://www.emedicine.com/radio/topic807.htm If you google "sclc resection" you will find a lot of info http://www.ersnet.org/ers/lr/browse/vie ... tach=10016 This states the the Veterans Administraion stagint system might not be good for SCLC versus another one http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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