SURGERY FOR T4 LUNG-CANCER - THE PROGNOSES OF T4 LUNG-CANCER

The prognoses of T4 lung cancer patients treated surgically were inves tigated in 76 patients. Extended resection was performed in 21 patient s, palliative resection in 21 and exploratory thoracotomy in 34. Altho ugh the five-year survival of the extended resection group did not dif fer significantly from that obtained in the exploratory thoracotomy gr oup, the mean survival time of the extended resection group was 3.1 mo nths longer than that of the exploratory thoracotomy group. Two patien ts who had undergone resection for left atrial involvement, survived f or two years or more, and a T4NO patient with squamous cell carcinoma, in whom resection for aortic involvement was carried out, died from a n unrelated disease after 15 months. Two patients with pleural dissemi nation, who underwent panpleuropneumonectomy, survived for two years. Surgical intervention did not improve the prognosis of patients with N 2-squamous cell carcinoma, those with malignant effusion or those with multiple organ involvement.