Background: Chemotherapy with radiation has to be considered the standard therapy for limited-stage small cell lung cancer but surgical resection is possible in a small subgroup in which it may improve survival. Surgery is not recommended as the standard treatment, but a few small studies have demonstrated a benefit of surgery in highly selected cases of limited-stage small cell lung cancer.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 29 patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer undergoing surgical resection in our department. There were 7 (24%) women and 22 (76%) men with a median age of 62 years (range, 46-82 years). Medical history, histology and survival status were extracted from the medical database of the University Medical Center Freiburg.
Results: The median overall survival was 20.7 months. In 15 patients who received neoadjuvant treatment, the median survival was 89.4 months. Karnofsky performance status and neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a significant influence on median survival (p <0.0004).
Conclusions: We concluded that surgical resection can be beneficial in a highly selected group of patients as a part of a multidisciplinary approach. In addition, surgical resection is safe with acceptable mortality and morbidity.