The value of completion residual lung resection in ipsilateral recurrent non-small cell lung cancer

BackgroundRecurrence is one of the most important challenges to manage lung cancer. Selected patients might be candidates for resection. This study assessed the outcomes and hazard factors of patients after completion of lung resection for recurrence, focusing specifically on postrecurrence survival (PRS) and overall survival (OS) after surgery.MethodsThis retrospective study enrolled 63 patients who underwent complete pulmonary resection for recurrence between January 2015 and December 2018. Inclusion criteria include potentially curative first resection for primary lung cancer, histologically proven recurrent or new malignancy, and complete pathological report after both operations. PRS and OS were assessed and the influence of patient and treatment features on these endpoints was evaluated.ResultsMost of the patients recurred at stage IIIA, and nearly three-fourth received complete pneumonectomy. The overall 2- and 5-year survival rates were 95% and 75%, whereas the overall 2- and 5-year postrecurrence survival rates were 55% and 36%, respectively. No patient died within 30 or 90 days after completion of residual lung resection, and no serious complications occurred during follow-up. Upon selection of clinically important variables by the Cox proportional hazards regression model, the r-stage [hazard ratio (HR), 3.35; 95% CI, 1.11–10.10; P = 0.03] and stage of primary tumor (HR, 6.26; 95% CI, 2.00–19.55; P