Surgical management of pulmonary carcinoid tumors: sublobar resection versus lobectomy.

Background: Surgical resection of bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumors can be curative and remains the primary treatment modality. There are limited data to delineate the optimal extent of resection for this disease.

Methods: A retrospective review of the 3,270 patients diagnosed with typical and atypical carcinoid tumors between 2000 and 2007 in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results registry was performed.

Results: The mean follow-up period was 46 months (range, 1-95 mo). Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival at 5 years was 80% and 90%, respectively. The mean OS was slightly better in the lobectomy group compared with those undergoing sublobar resection (86 vs 83 mo; P = .008). After adjusting for age, this finding was no longer present (P = .513). By using multivariate analysis, sublobar resection was noninferior to lobectomy with regard to disease-specific survival and OS (P < .05).

Conclusions: Compared with lobectomy, sublobar resection is associated with noninferior survival in patients with typical carcinoid of the lung.