Prognostic Factors for Surgically Resected N2 Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

PURPOSE: Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) with pathologically documented ipsilateral mediastinal lymph node (LN) metastases (pN2) are a broad spectrum of diseases. We retrospectively analyzed prognostic factors for cases of pN2 NSCLC treated by surgical resection.

METHODS

Clinicopathological data were reviewed for consecutive 121 patients who underwent anatomical pulmonary resection with mediastinal LN sampling or dissection for pN2 NSCLC over a 15-year period.

RESULTS

The 5-year survival rate for all patients was 29.9%. Clinical N status, curability, surgical procedure and adjuvant chemotherapy were favorable prognostic factors in univariate analysis, with 5-year survival rates of 35.0% for cN0/1 vs. 17.7% for cN2/3 cases; 33.1% for R0 vs. 14.7% for R1/2 resection; 31.5% for lobectomy vs. 25.0% for bilobectomy and 15.6% for pneumonectomy; and 72.7% with adjuvant chemotherapy vs. 23.8% without adjuvant chemotherapy. Survival did not differ significantly based on gender, age, smoking status, clinical T status, tumor location, histology, skip metastasis, subcarinal LN metastasis, or number of involved N2 levels. In multivariate analysis, adjuvant chemotherapy, R0 resection, and lobectomy emerged as independent favorable prognostic factors.

CONCLUSION

Complete resection using lobectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy are favorable prognostic factors in cases of pN2 NSCLC.