Effect of Postoperative Pulmonary Morbidities on the Survival in Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effect postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing pulmonary resection on survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study involved a retrospective review of 635 patients over a 4-year period who had undergone curative lung resection for non-small cell lung cancer. The patient group included 504 (79.4%) males, and the overall mean age was 61.3 years. Patients were classified as those who had experienced PPCs (PPCs group, n=105, 16.5% of all patients) or those who had not (no PPCs group, n=530 patients). RESULTS: The surgical procedures performed were 101 (15.9%) pneumonectomies, 505 (79.5%) lobectomies and 29 (4.6%) lesser resections. Cancer types comprised 330 (52.0%) squamous cell carcinomas, 255 (40.2%) adenocarcinomas and 50 (7.8%) others. Overall survival 3 years after surgery was 68.2% in the no PPCs group and 38.8% in the PPCs group (p<0.0001). Regardless of tumor staging, overall survival differed significantly between the PPCs and no PPCs groups, while disese-free survival did not. Seventy-six patients (14.9%) in the no PPCs group and 24 patients (27.3%) in the PPCs group died during the follow up period. The primary cause of death was the recurrence of the primary lung cancer in both groups (68 patients in the no PPCs and 14 in the PPCs). The second most frequent cause of deaths was respiratory failure in the PPCs group (9 patients 10.2%). Respiratory failure was less observed in the no PPCs group. In contrast, the incidence of respiratory failure leading to death constantly increased in the PPCs group. CONCLUSION: Patients who had postoperative pulmonary complications have taken the risk of poor survival. We emphasize on the fact that patients who experienced postoperative pulmonary complications need careful and frequent shortterm follow-up to improve overall survival