HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Hans Rostad Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rostad, H. Articles by Norstein, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rostad, H. Articles by Norstein, J. Related Collections Lung - cancer

Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2004;26:782-786
© 2004 Elsevier Science NL

Small cell lung cancer in Norway. Should more patients have been offered surgical therapy?

^a Cancer Registry of Norway, Montebello, Oslo, Norway
^b Department of Respiratory Medicine, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
^c Department of Pathology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway

Received 20 April 2004; received in revised form 11 June 2004; accepted 17 June 2004.

^* Corresponding author. Tel.: +47-23-33-39-21; fax: +47-22-45-13-70
e-mail: hans.rostad{at}kreftregisteret.no

Objective: The final outcome of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is poor with an overall 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. Therefore, the question of surgery in patients with a technically-operable solitary tumor has been raised. The purpose of this study was to identify the proportion of patients with operable SCLC and to assess the prognosis of different treatment strategies. For patients who were operated, we compared the resection specimens from patients with more than 5-year survival with those with shorter survival to see whether the specimens belonged to different subclasses of SCLC. Methods: In Norway all clinical and pathologic departments submit reports on cancer patients to the Cancer Registry. The Registry also has a law-regulated authority to collect supplemental information regarding diagnosis, treatment and outcome for all cancer patients from the hospitals in charge. All reports on patients diagnosed as having SCLC in limited disease or unknown stage during the time interval 1993–1999 were reviewed. Patients with a T2-tumor, in whom a pneumonectomy would have to be performed, were classified as potentially operable. Five-year relative survival was calculated for patients diagnosed in 1993–1997. Results: During the actual period 2442 individuals with SCLC were identified. The majority was treated with conventional chemotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy while 38 underwent surgical therapy. Following reclassification of 697 patients reported to have limited disease or unknown stage 180 were judged to be in stage I. In addition to the 38 resected patients 14 were considered fit for surgery technically and medically while 97 were found to be potentially operable treatment modalities apart from surgery yielded a 5-year survival rate <7%. For stage I (N=96) the rate was 11.3% in conventionally treated patients compared to 44.9% for those who underwent surgical resection. By pathological review of surgical specimens a diagnosis of SCLC was confirmed in all patients treated by surgery in the groups with long and short survival. Conclusion: This investigation demonstrates that patients with SCLC having a peripherally located tumor should be referred to surgery, as long time survival is far better than for conventionally treated patients.

Key Words: SCLC • Surgical resection • Survival

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. J. Samson, J. Seidenfeld, G. R. Simon, A. T. Turrisi III, C. Bonnell, K. M. Ziegler, and N. Aronson Evidence for Management of Small Cell Lung Cancer: ACCP Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (2nd Edition) Chest, September 1, 2007; 132(3_suppl): 314S - 323S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Granetzny, A. Boseila, W. Wagner, G. Krukemeyer, U. Vogt, E. Hecker, O. M. Koch, and F. Klinke Surgery in the tri-modality treatment of small cell lung cancer. Stage-dependent survival. Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., August 1, 2006; 30(2): 212 - 216. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T-E Strand, H Rostad, B Moller, and J Norstein Survival after resection for primary lung cancer: a population based study of 3211 resected patients Thorax, August 1, 2006; 61(8): 710 - 715. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Rostad, A. Naalsund, T.-E. Strand, R. Jacobsen, O. Talleraas, and J. Norstein Results of pulmonary resection for lung cancer in Norway, patients older than 70 years Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., February 1, 2005; 27(2): 325 - 328. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]