The Role of Sublobar Resection in T1 N0 Non-Small-Cell Pulmonary Carcinoma.

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of resection type on survival in patients with stage IA non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and other factors affecting the prognosis.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2005 and December 2016, we retrospectively screened 269 patients who were resected and were having T1N0M0 non-small-cell pulmonary carcinoma. The survival time after surgery was obtained from the National Population Registration System (MERNIS) system. Patients were classified according to the extent of resection. Additionally, age, sex, smoking, concomitant disease, histological type, pathological stage (T1a-T1b-T1c), and the presence of postoperative complications were evaluated to determine whether they are prognostic factors or not.

Results: A lobectomy was performed in 257 cases (95.5%), and a sublobar resection was performed in 12 patients (4.5%). The 5-year survival was 62.5% for lobectomies and 73.3% for sublobar resections. Although 5-year survival was better in patients with a limited resection, it was not statistically significant (p=0.301). Histopathological evaluation revealed that 130 patients (48.3%) had adenocarcinoma, 113 (42.0%) had squamous cell carcinoma, and 26 (9.7%) had the other types. The 5-year survival rate was 69.9% in patients with adenocarcinoma and 53.2% in squamous cell carcinoma, and this was statistically significant (p=0.036). The overall 5- and 10-year survival rates in all patients were 65.0% and 47.2%, respectively.

Conclusion: Although lobectomy is the standard type of resection in the early stage of lung cancer cases in the Thoracic Surgery Department of Dr. Suat Seren Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital patients who underwent sublobar resection were found to be having partially better survival, but it was not statistically significant. Owing to the small number of cases, we think that sublobar resections should be prospectively investigated with more extensive series in patients with T1 NSCLC.