SURGERY AFTER RADIOCHEMOTHERAPY FOR STAGE-III LUNG-CANCER - POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS AND LATE RESULTS

Fifty-seven stage III lung cancer patients underwent radiochemotherapy and subsequent surgery. Forty radical (R-), six non-radical, and elev en exploratory operations were performed. Pneumonia (five cases), pulm onary insufficiency (one case), bronchial fistula (one case) were the major non-fatal complications. Four deaths due to adult respiratory di stress syndrome ( ARDS) or pulmonary embolism occurred. Sixty percent of the 10 patients who had no viable tumor at operation survived 3 yea rs, as well as 41% of those who achieved a complete remission by resec tion and 11% of those with residual disease (R+) after operation. Howe ver, the 1- and 2-year survival rates were similar. The main pattern o f failure in R- and R+ patients was extra- and intra-RT-field progress ion, respectively. A slightly higher rate of postoperative complicatio ns, with respect to current practice, was observed. However, data lead to argument on the improvement of locoregional control and long-term survival following radical surgery. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.