Efficacy of adjuvant programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody immunotherapy in Chinese patients with resected stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ melanoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective: To explore the efficacy of adjuvant programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody immunotherapy in Chinese patients with resected stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ melanoma. Methods: A total of 296 patients who underwent radical surgery for stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ cutaneous orlimb melanoma at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Shanghai Electric Power Hospital between 2017 and 2021 and received adjuvant PD-1 monoclonal antibody immunotherapy, low-dose interferon (IFN), or observational follow-up were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group (164 cases) and the IFN or observation group (IFN/OBS group, 132 cases) based on postoperative adjuvant treatment methods. Patients' disease recurrence and survival were observed. Results: Among the 296 patients, 77 had cutaneous melanoma and 219 had limb melanoma; 110 were stage Ⅱ and 186 were stage Ⅲ. Among stage Ⅱ patients, the median recurrence-free survival (RFS) in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group (46 cases) did not reach, while the median RFS in the IFN/OBS group (64 cases) was 36 months. The 1-year RFS rates were 85.3% and 92.1% and the 2-year RFS rates were 71.9% and 63.7% in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group and the IFN/OBS group, respectively, with no statistically significant difference (P=0.394). Among stage Ⅲ patients, the median RFS rates in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group (118 cases) and the IFN/OBS group (68 cases) were 23 and 13 months, respectively. The 1-year RFS rates were 70.0% and 51.8% and the 2-year RFS rates were 51.8% and 35.1%in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group and the IFN/OBS group, respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P=0.010). Stratified analysis showed that the advantage of PD-1 monoclonal antibody adjuvant therapy in improving RFS persisted in the subgroups of primary ulceration (HR=0.558, 95% CI: 0.348-0.893), lymph node macroscopic metastasis (HR=0.486, 95% CI: 0.285-0.828), stage ⅢC (HR=0.389, 95% CI: 0.24-0.63), and the subgroup without BRAF/c-Kit/NRAS gene mutations (HR=0.347, 95% CI: 0.171-0.706). In terms of recurrence patterns, in stage Ⅱ patients, the recurrence and metastasis rate was 15.2% (7/46) in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group, significantly lower than the IFN/OBS group [43.8% (28/64), P=0.002]. In stage Ⅲ melanoma patients, the recurrence and metastasis rate was 42.4% (50/118) in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group, also lower than the IFN/OBS group [63.2% (43/68), P=0.006]. Conclusions: In real-world settings, compared with patients receiving low-dose IFN adjuvant therapy or observational follow-up, PD-1 monoclonal antibody immunotherapy can reduce the recurrence and metastasis rate of cutaneous and limb melanoma, and prolong the postoperative RFS of stage Ⅲ cutaneous and limb melanoma patients. Patients with a heavier tumor burden benefit more from immunotherapy.

Efficacy of adjuvant programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody immunotherapy in Chinese patients with resected stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ melanoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective: To explore the efficacy of adjuvant programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody immunotherapy in Chinese patients with resected stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ melanoma. Methods: A total of 296 patients who underwent radical surgery for stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ cutaneous orlimb melanoma at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Shanghai Electric Power Hospital between 2017 and 2021 and received adjuvant PD-1 monoclonal antibody immunotherapy, low-dose interferon (IFN), or observational follow-up were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group (164 cases) and the IFN or observation group (IFN/OBS group, 132 cases) based on postoperative adjuvant treatment methods. Patients' disease recurrence and survival were observed. Results: Among the 296 patients, 77 had cutaneous melanoma and 219 had limb melanoma; 110 were stage Ⅱ and 186 were stage Ⅲ. Among stage Ⅱ patients, the median recurrence-free survival (RFS) in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group (46 cases) did not reach, while the median RFS in the IFN/OBS group (64 cases) was 36 months. The 1-year RFS rates were 85.3% and 92.1% and the 2-year RFS rates were 71.9% and 63.7% in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group and the IFN/OBS group, respectively, with no statistically significant difference (P=0.394). Among stage Ⅲ patients, the median RFS rates in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group (118 cases) and the IFN/OBS group (68 cases) were 23 and 13 months, respectively. The 1-year RFS rates were 70.0% and 51.8% and the 2-year RFS rates were 51.8% and 35.1%in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group and the IFN/OBS group, respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P=0.010). Stratified analysis showed that the advantage of PD-1 monoclonal antibody adjuvant therapy in improving RFS persisted in the subgroups of primary ulceration (HR=0.558, 95% CI: 0.348-0.893), lymph node macroscopic metastasis (HR=0.486, 95% CI: 0.285-0.828), stage ⅢC (HR=0.389, 95% CI: 0.24-0.63), and the subgroup without BRAF/c-Kit/NRAS gene mutations (HR=0.347, 95% CI: 0.171-0.706). In terms of recurrence patterns, in stage Ⅱ patients, the recurrence and metastasis rate was 15.2% (7/46) in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group, significantly lower than the IFN/OBS group [43.8% (28/64), P=0.002]. In stage Ⅲ melanoma patients, the recurrence and metastasis rate was 42.4% (50/118) in the PD-1 monoclonal antibody group, also lower than the IFN/OBS group [63.2% (43/68), P=0.006]. Conclusions: In real-world settings, compared with patients receiving low-dose IFN adjuvant therapy or observational follow-up, PD-1 monoclonal antibody immunotherapy can reduce the recurrence and metastasis rate of cutaneous and limb melanoma, and prolong the postoperative RFS of stage Ⅲ cutaneous and limb melanoma patients. Patients with a heavier tumor burden benefit more from immunotherapy.

Expression of IGLL1 Gene and Its Clinical Significance in Pediatric T-ALL / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To detect the relative expression of IGLL1 (immunoglobulin lambda-like polypeptide 1) mRNA in bone marrow of children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), and analyze its correlation with the clinical characteristics and prognosis of the patients, so as to clarify the clinical significance of IGLL1 in pediatric T-ALL patients.@*METHODS@#A total of 56 pediatric T-ALL patients hospitalized in Children's Hospital of Soochow University from June 2012 to December 2017 and treated with CCLG-ALL 2008 regimen were selected. Transcriptome sequencing technology was used to detect the transcription level of IGLL1 gene in children with T-ALL. According to 25% of the IGLL1 transcription level (cutoff value:448), the enrolled children were divided into IGLL1 low expression group (17 cases) and IGLL1 high expression group (39 cases). Combined with clinical data, the correlation between the expression level of IGLL1 and prognosis of the patients was analyzed.@*RESULTS@#The comparative analysis showed that the transcription level of IGLL1 was not correlated with the clinical characteristics of the patients, such as sex, age, bone marrow blast, white blood cell (WBC) count at initial diagnosis. The 5-year OS rate of patients with high IGLL1 expression was significantly higher than that of patients with low IGLL1 expression (76.9%±6.7% vs 47.1%±12.1%, P =0.018). Further comparison of relapse-free survival (RFS) rate between the two groups showed that the 5-year RFS rate of patients with high IGLL1 expression was higher than that of patients with low IGLL1 expression, but the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (P =0.095). Multivariate COX analysis was conducted on common clinical prognostic factors (age, sex, WBC count at diagnosis, prednisone response on the 7th day, bone marrow response on the 15th day after treatment) and IGLL1 expression level, and the results showed that IGLL1 expression (P =0.012) and prednisone response (P =0.017) were independent risk factors for overall survival in pediatric T-ALL patients.@*CONCLUSION@#In pediatric T-ALL, the OS rate of children with high expression of IGLL1 gene was significantly higher than that of children with low expression of IGLL1 gene, and the expression level of IGLL1 gene was an independent factor affecting the survival of children with T-ALL, which suggests that IGLL1 is a marker of good clinical prognosis of children with T-ALL.

Clinical Study on Dynamic Detection of Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia by Multiparameter Flow Cytometry / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the prognostic significance of dynamic detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by 8-color flow cytometry.@*METHODS@#MRD of 282 AML patients who achieved remission after initial therapy was detected by 8-color flow cytometry. MRD threshold for predicting recurrence was determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and time from MRD-positive to clinical recurrence was analyzed. The differences in overall survival (OS) time and relapse-free survival (RFS) time of patients with different MRD-changes were compared, and the related factors of recurrence in patients with MRD-negative were analyzed by univariate and logistic regression analysis.@*RESULTS@#ROC curve determined that the MFC-MRD threshold for predicting the recurrence of AML was 0.105%, and the recurrence rate of MRD-positive patients was significantly higher than that of MRD-negative patients [52.45% (75/143 cases) vs 35.97% (50/139 cases), P=0.005]. The patients in MRD persistent positive group and negative to positive group recurred earlier than those in positive to negative group and negative-positive fluctuation group (P<0.005). Survival analysis showed that OS and RFS time of patients with MRD persistent positive were significantly shorter than those of patients with MRD persistent negative, positive to negative, and negative-positive fluctuation (P<0.005). There was no significant difference in OS and RFS between MRD negative to positive group and MRD persistent positive group (P>0.005), either between MRD persistent negative group and MRD positive to negative group (P>0.005). Among 139 MRD-negative patients, 50 recurred. Univariate and logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of recurrence increased with the increase of white blood cells level (95%CI: 1.000-1.013, P=0.045). The risk of recurrence in patients without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was 9.694 times higher than that in patients who received HSCT (95%CI: 1.720-54.651, P=0.010), and in the high-risk group was 5.848 times higher than that in the low-risk group (95%CI: 1.418-24.121, P=0.015).@*CONCLUSION@#The prognosis of AML patients with different MRD changes is significantly different. No matter MRD-positive or MRD-negative at the initial remission, dynamic detection of MRD after treatment is more helpful to accurately guide treatment.

Biochemical Relapse in Low-risk Prostate Cancer Treated with Radical Prostatectomy and Bilateral Pelvic Lymphadenectomy / Recaída bioquímica en cáncer de próstata de bajo riesgo tratado con prostatectomía radical y linfadenectomía pélvica bilateral

Introduction For low-risk prostate cancer (PCa), curative treatment with radical prostatectomy (RP) can be performed, reporting a biochemical relapse-free survival rate (bRFS) at 5 and 7 years of 90.1% and 88.3%, respectively. Prostatic specific antigen (PSA), pathological stage (pT), and positive margins (R1) are significant predictors of biochemical relapse (BR). Even though pelvic lymphadenectomy is not recommended during RP, in the literature, it is performed in 34% of these patients, finding 0.37% of positive lymph nodes (N1). In this study, we aim to evaluate the 10-year bRFS in patients with low-risk PCa who underwent RP and extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND). Methodology All low-risk patients who underwent RP plus bilateral ePLND at the National Cancer Institute of Colombia between 2006 and 2019 were reviewed. Biochemical relapse was defined as 2 consecutive increasing levels of PSA > 0.2 ng/mL. A descriptive analysis was performed using the STATA 15 software (Stata Corp., College Station, TX, USA), and the Kaplan-Meier curves and uni and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used for the survival outcome analysis. The related regression coefficients were used for the hazard ratio (HR), and, for all comparisons, a two-sided p-value ˂ 0.05 was used to define statistical significance. Results Two hundred and two patients met the study criteria. The 10-year bRFS for the general population was 82.5%, statistically related to stage pT3 (p = 0.047), higher Gleason grade group (GG) (p ≤ 0.001), and R1 (p ≤ 0.001), but not with N1. A total of 3.9% of the patients had N1; of these, 75% had R1, 25% GG2, and 37% GG3. Among the N0 (non-lymph node metástasis in prostate cáncer) patients, 31% of the patients had R1, 41% GG2, and 13% GG3. Conclusions Our bRFS was 82.5% in low-risk patients who underwent RP and ePLND. With higher pT, GG, and presence of R1, the probability of BR increased. Those with pN1 (pathologicaly confirmed positive lymph nodes) were not associated with bRFS, with a pN1 detection rate of 3.9%. Details: In low-risk PCa, curative treatment with RP can be performed, reporting a bRFS rate at 5 and 7 years of 90.1% and 88.3%, respectively. Despite the fact that pelvic lymphadenectomy is not recommended during RP in clinical guidelines, in the literature, it is performed in 34% of these patients, finding 0.37% of N1. In this study, we report the 10-year bRFS in patients with low-risk PCa who underwent surgery.

Introducción En el cáncer de próstata (CaP) de bajo riesgo se puede realizar un tratamiento curativo mediante prostatectomía radical (PR), con una tasa de supervivencia libre de recaída bioquímica (SLRb) a 5 y 7 años del 90,1% y el 88,3%, respectivamente. El antígeno prostático específico (PSA), el estadio patológico (pT) y los márgenes positivos (R1) son predictores significativos de recaída bioquímica (BR). Aunque la linfadenectomía pélvica no está recomendada durante la PR, en la literatura se realiza en el 34% de estos pacientes, encontrándose un 0,37% de ganglios linfáticos positivos (N1). En este estudio, nuestro objetivo es evaluar la SLB a 10 años en pacientes con CaP de bajo riesgo sometidos a PR y disección ganglionar pélvica extendida (DGLPe). Metodología Se revisaron todos los pacientes de bajo riesgo sometidos a PR más ePLND bilateral en el Instituto Nacional de Cancerología de Colombia entre 2006 y 2019. La recaída bioquímica se definió como 2 niveles crecientes consecutivos de PSA > 0,2 ng/mL. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo utilizando el software STATA 15 (Stata Corp., College Station, TX, USA), y se utilizaron las curvas de Kaplan-Meier y los modelos uni y multivariados de riesgos proporcionales de Cox para el análisis de resultados de supervivencia. Los coeficientes de regresión relacionados se utilizaron para la hazard ratio (HR), y, para todas las comparaciones, se utilizó un valor p de dos caras ˂ 0,05 para definir la significación estadística. Resultados Doscientos dos pacientes cumplieron los criterios del estudio. La bRFS a 10 años para la población general fue del 82,5%, estadísticamente relacionada con el estadio pT3 (p = 0,047), mayor grupo de grado Gleason (GG) (p ≤ 0,001), y R1 (p ≤ 0,001), pero no con N1. Un total del 3,9% de los pacientes tenían N1; de ellos, el 75% tenían R1, el 25% GG2, y el 37% GG3. Entre los pacientes N0 (metástasis no ganglionar en el cáncer de próstata), el 31% de los pacientes tenían R1, el 41% GG2 y el 13% GG3. Conclusiones Nuestra SSEb fue del 82,5% en los pacientes de bajo riesgo que se sometieron a RP y ePLND. A mayor pT, GG y presencia de R1, mayor probabilidad de RB. Aquellos con pN1 (ganglios linfáticos patológicamente confirmados como positivos) no se asociaron con la SSEb, con una tasa de detección de pN1 del 3,9%. Detalles: En el CaP de bajo riesgo se puede realizar tratamiento curativo con PR, reportando una tasa de SSEb a 5 y 7 años de 90,1% y 88,3%, respectivamente. A pesar de que la linfadenectomía pélvica no está recomendada durante la PR en las guías clínicas, en la literatura se realiza en el 34% de estos pacientes, encontrando un 0,37% de N1. En este estudio, reportamos la SLB a 10 años en pacientes con CaP de bajo riesgo sometidos a cirugía.

Matched-sibling donor versus unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation for treating hematological malignancies in children / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: In recent years, umbilical cord blood has gradually become a crucial alternative source of stem cells for related and unrelated bone marrow or peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which is increasingly used in the treatment of hematological malignancies in children. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of sibling donor umbilical cord blood transplantation and unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation for treating hematological malignancies in children. METHODS: The clinical data of children with hematological malignancies who received umbilical cord blood transplantation at the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2018 was retrospectively analyzed. All the patients received myelablative conditioning regimen, and cyslosporine A combined with or without mycophenolate mofetil were concurrently adopted for graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Two patients in the sibling donor umbilical cord blood transplantation group and three in the unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation group did not attain hematological engraftment and subsequently died from infection, and other patients succeeded in hematological engraftment. The median time of neutrophil and platelet engraftment in the sibling donor umbilical cord blood transplantation and unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation groups was [17 days (11-43 days), 18 days (12-45 days), P=0.307] and [20.5 days (15-50 days), 27 days (18-56 days), P=0.773]. There was no significant difference between the two groups. (2) The incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease and chronic graft-versus-host disease in the sibling donor umbilical cord blood transplantation and unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation groups was 36% vs. 43% (P=0.737) and 15% vs. 33% (P=0.412). There was no significant difference between the two groups. There was also no significant difference in the incidence of infection after transplantation between sibling donor umbilical cord blood transplantation and unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation groups (56% vs. 71%, P=0.343). (3) There were no significant differences in the 2-year overall survival (61% vs. 36%, P=0.301), or 2-year relapse-free survival (56% vs. 33%, P=0.151). The 5-year overall survival and 5-year relapse-free survival in the sibling donor umbilical cord blood transplantation and unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation groups were 54% vs. 24% (P=0.044) and 50% vs. 20% (P=0.039). The results showed that there was a significant difference in long-term survival rate between two groups. (4) Our results reveal that both sibling donor umbilical cord blood transplantation and unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation are safe, effective and applicable for children with hematological malignancies. In particular, there are significant benefits in the long-term survival of substitute donor transplantation for pediatric patients with hematological malignancies.

Long-term therapeutic response of two therapies for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To compare the perioperative outcomes and long-term therapeutic response of laparoscopic splenectomy versus open splenectomy for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.Methods A retrospective analysis of 124 patients who under-went splenectomy(68 LS and 56 OS)for ITP between January 2011 and January 2015 was conducted.Results Patients undergoing LS were found to require a longer operative time(P 0.05).Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the relapse-free survival rate between the groups (P =0.679).Conclusion Compared with open splenectomy,laparoscopic splenectomy for patients with ITP has similar long-term therapeutic response,but it has advantages of minimally invasiveness.

Effect of chemotherapy regimen CCLG-ALL-2008 on children with TEL/AML1 fusion gene positive of acute lymphoblastic leukemia / 临床儿科杂志

Objective To evaluate the predictive role of TEL/AML1 fusion gene in protocol CCLG-ALL-2008 and to identify relevant factors influencing the outcome of ALL with TEL/AML1 fusion gene. Methods Ninety-nine patients with ALL harboring TEL/AML1 fusion gene (positive) and 329 cases without any specific fusion genes (negative) at diagnosis of B-lineage ALL from June 2008 to December 2014 were enrolled and their clinical and biological features were analyzed. Following-up ended in October 2015, the survival status was calculated by K-M curve and prognostic factors were analyzed by COX model. Results There were no differences between the two groups in age, white blood cell at the diagnostic stage, and treatment responses at 4 time points, namely, prednisone good response on day 8, M3 status of BM on D15, and the minimal residual disease (MRD) more than 1.0×10-3 on day 33 and 12th week. During the follow-up period, the relapse rate was lower in the positive group than that in the negative group (14/99 vs 69/329), the mortality rate of the negative group was twice of that in the positive group (55/329 vs 8/99). The five-year overall survival (OS) rate, relapse-free survival (RFS) rate and event-free survival (EFS) rate of the positive group were (86.1 ± 4.9)%, (80.7 ± 5.1)% and (78.9 ± 5.1)%, respectively, and (79 ±2.8)%, (72± 3.1)%, and (69.6+ 3.1)% for the negative group as well. COX regression analysis indicated that relapse and MRD level at the 12th week were independent prognostic factors on OS, RFS, and EFS (P<0.05) for the two groups. Conclusions TEL/AML1 fusion gene could be regarded as a relatively good indicator of risks in ALL children treated by CCLG-ALL-2008 protocol. ALL patients with TEL/AML1 are recommended to receive more intensive therapy including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation when the patients were high level of MRD on the 12th week after treatment.

Treatment outcome in patients with triple negative early stage breast cancers compared with other molecular subtypes

PURPOSE: To determine whether triple negative (TN) early stage breast cancers have poorer survival rates compared with other molecular types. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between August 2000 and July 2006, patients diagnosed with stage I, II early stage breast cancers, in whom all three markers (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor [HER]-2) were available and treated with modified radical mastectomy or breast conserving surgery followed by radiotherapy, were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Of 446 patients, 94 (21.1%) were classified as TN, 57 (12.8%) as HER-2 type, and 295 (66.1%) as luminal. TN was more frequently associated with young patients younger than 35 years old (p = 0.002), higher histologic grade (p 0.05). CONCLUSION: We found that patients with TN early stage breast cancers had no difference in survival rates compared with other molecular subtypes. Prospective study in homogeneous treatment group will need for a prognosis of TN early stage breast cancer.

Treatment of Hodgkin\u2019s disease with ABVD followed by low-dose involved field of radiotherapy: analysis of efficacy

Background: Treatment of Hodgkin\u2019s disease with ABVD followed by low-dose involved field of radiotherapy is currently considered the standard of care. Objectives: This study was evaluated the efficacy and some pronogstic factors. Subjects and method: 103 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed HD\ufffd?disease treated with combination CT and RT at K-hospital between 10/2001 \ufffd?3/2005 were eligible. The end points of the study were complete response (CR), relapse-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS). Tests were used for analysis: chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier method... Results: 103 patients (100%) achieved a CR. The RFS and OS rate at 5 years were 64,6% and 91,7%. Pronogstic factors are sex, anemia, B symtom, liver lesion. Conclusion: Treatment plan has brought the most effective so far. Liver damage is a bad influence markedly the survival time.

Prognosis of Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer after Surgery / 결핵

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and it's incidence has been rapidly increasing in Korea, too. The overall cure rate for non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) is approximately 10%, and the cure is generally achieved by surgery. Unfortunately, however, less than 15% of all patients and less than 25% of those who present with localized disease are candidates for curative surgical resection. So preoperative staging evaluation followed by curative resection has a major role in determining the long term prognosis of NSCLC patients. Therefore, we have conducted this study to compare pre-operative and post-operative staging and the long-term relapse-free survival rates in NSCLC patients according to its stage. METHODS: We analyzed the medical records of 217 NSCLC patients who were operated on for curative resection in Seoul National University Hospital, retrospectively. Among them, 170 patients who were completely resected were selected to determine the long term relapse-free survival rates. RESULTS: Among 217 NSCLC patients, men were 157 and women were 30. The median age was 58 and the difference between men and women was not found. The discrepancy rate between preoperative and postoperative staging was 40.1%. Its major cause was due to the difference of nodal staging. The 3-year relapse-free survival rates were 73%, 53% and 48% in stage I, II and IIIa, respectively. There was no difference of relapse-free duration in recurred patients according to the stage or histologic types. CONCLUSION: The postoperative pathologic staging determines the long term prognosis of patients with NSCLC after surgery, but current preoperative clinical staging can not predict the postoperative pathologic staging correctly. So the improved modality of staging system is required to predict the pathologic staging more correctly.