Thoracic surgery in the era of targeted and/or oral therapies for hematologic malignancies: a retrospective case series of postoperative hemorrhagic complications.

BACKGROUND

Patients treated with oral or targeted therapies for hematologic malignancies represent a growing population among candidates for thoracic surgery. These treatments, along with the underlying hematologic disorders, can impair hemostasis and increase perioperative bleeding risk. However, no specific recommendations currently exist for their perioperative management. The aim of this review is to explore potential factors contributing to perioperative bleeding in patients with hematologic malignancies receiving oral or targeted therapies who underwent anatomical lung resection.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective monocentric case series of seven patients with hematologic malignancies receiving oral chemotherapy who underwent major lung resection for lung cancer at the University Hospital of Nancy between 2024 and 2025. Data regarding intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage, occurrence of hemothorax, transfusion, and need for surgical revision were collected.

RESULTS

Postoperative hemothorax occurred in 71.4% (5/7) of patients, and 42.9% required blood transfusion. Two patients (28.6%) required surgical revision for postoperative bleeding. Median intraoperative blood loss was 100 mL (80-1,000 mL), and median postoperative day-1 drainage was 1,040 mL (130-2,000 mL). Notably, the two patients who discontinued oral chemotherapy before surgery did not experience postoperative bleeding.

CONCLUSIONS

An unexpectedly high incidence of postoperative hemorrhagic complications was observed in this small cohort of patients receiving oral or targeted therapies for hematologic malignancies. Although causality cannot be established, these findings support careful multidisciplinary perioperative assessment and warrant further investigation in larger studies.