Objective: To reveal the pre-operative chemotherapy for long-term of small cell lung cancer.
Methods: From January 1994 to January 2005, 263 patients with small cell lung cancer underwent combined therapy. The comparison of long-term survival rates was made between pre-operative chemotherapy group (n = 111) (group A) and post-operative chemotherapy (n = 96) (group B).
Results: The analyses disclosed that the overall 5-year survival rate was 42.16%. The 5-year survival rate of group A was 38.25% while in group B it was 46.57%. 5-year survival rate of group A for N0-1 and N2 was 40.12% and 39.22%, that for stage I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IV was 60.15%, 35.70%, 40.16%, 14.29% and 0 respectively. 5-year survival rate of group B for N0-1 and N2 was 51.91% and 42.69%, that for stage I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IV was 61.1%, 50.23%, 42.32%, 26.47% and 0 respectively.
Conclusion: The comparison of the survival rate between patients with the pre-operative chemotherapy and those with chemotherapy post-operatively revealed trend of variation. Operation plus post-operative chemotherapy mode is indispensable for better prognosis of small cell lung cancer.