Long-term Outcomes of Salvage Surgery Induction Therapy Followed by Surgical Resection for Advanced NSCLC: A Propensity Score-matched Analysis.

Background/aim: The outcomes of lung cancer treatment have improved over time. However, in contrast to other treatments, the clinical outcomes of salvage surgery are seldom reported because the follow-up periods after salvage surgery are short.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a comprehensive study involving consecutive patients who underwent salvage surgery at two different institutions. Our analysis encompassed the exploration of clinicopathological features, perioperative variables, and surgical outcomes. Additionally, we employed propensity score matching to compare the long-term survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent salvage surgery with those who received induction chemoradiotherapy prior to surgery.

Results: Twenty-five patients underwent salvage procedures, while 113 patients received induction chemotherapy followed by surgery during the same study period. When assessing the overall survival (OS) from the registration date to the initial treatment date, the five-year OS rates were 73.8% in the induction group and 70.5% in the salvage surgery group (p=0.674). No significant differences were identified between the two groups in a cohort of 48 patients with NSCLC who were matched using propensity scores.

Conclusion: In patients who underwent salvage surgery, reasonable long-term survival was achieved with outcomes comparable to those of induction chemotherapy followed by surgical resection.