User login
Guidelines that recommend sleeve lobectomy as a means of avoiding pneumonectomy for lung cancer have been based on a limited retrospective series, but a large series drawn from a nationwide database in France has confirmed the preference for sleeve lobectomy because it leads to higher rates of survival, despite an increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications.
“Whenever it is technically possible, surgeons must perform sleeve lobectomy to provide more long-term survival benefits to patients, even with the risk of more postoperative pulmonary complications,” said Pierre-Benoit Pagès, MD, PhD, and his coauthors in the January 2017 issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (2017;153:184-95). Dr. Pagès is with the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the University Hospital Center Dijon (France) and Bocage Hospital.
Three-year overall survival was 71.9% for the sleeve lobectomy group vs. 60.8% for the pneumonectomy group. Three-year disease-free survival was 46.4% for the sleeve lobectomy group and 31.6% for the pneumonectomy group. In addition, compared with the sleeve lobectomy group, the pneumonectomy group had an increased risk of recurrence by matching (hazard ratio, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.1-2).
The researchers performed a propensity-matched analysis that favored sleeve lobectomy for early overall and disease-free survival, but the weighted analysis did not. Patients in the sleeve lobectomy group vs. the pneumonectomy group were younger (60.9 years vs. 61.9), had higher body mass index (25.6 vs. 25.1), had higher average forced expiratory volume (74.1% vs. 62.9%), and had lower American Society of Anesthesiologists scores (73.7% with scores of 1 and 2 vs. 70.8%). Sleeve lobectomy patients also were more likely to have right-sided surgery (69.6% vs. 41%) and squamous cell carcinoma (54.6% vs. 48.3%), and lower T and N stages (T1 and T2, 60.5% vs. 40.6%; N0, 40.9% vs. 26.2%).
Overall mortality after surgery was 5% in the sleeve lobectomy group vs. 5.9% in the pneumonectomy group, but propensity scoring showed far fewer postoperative pulmonary complications in the pneumonectomy group, with an odds ratio of 0.4, Dr. Pagès and his coauthors said. However, with other significant complications – arrhythmia, bronchopleural fistula, empyema, and hemorrhage – pneumonectomy had a propensity-matched odds ratio ranging from 1.6 to 7. “We found no significant difference regarding postoperative mortality in the sleeve lobectomy and pneumonectomy groups, whatever the statistical method used,” Dr. Pagès and his coauthors wrote.
The investigators had no financial relationships to disclose.
The study by Dr. Pagès and his colleagues is unique in the field of surgery for non–small cell lung cancer in that it drew on a nationwide database using data from 103 centers, Betty C. Tong, MD, MHS, of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, said in her invited commentary (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2017;153:196). “These results are likely as close to real life as possible,” she said.
She acknowledged that no prospective, randomized controlled trials have compared sleeve lobectomy to pneumonectomy, but she added, “it is unlikely that such a trial could be successfully executed.” The 5:1 ratio of patients having pneumonectomy vs. sleeve lobectomy in this study is similar to findings from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery database (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2008;132:247-54), Dr. Tong pointed out, “and likely reflects the fact that sleeve lobectomy can be technically more difficult to perform.”
The findings of the French Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery group “should strongly encourage thoracic surgeons to perform pneumonectomy as sparingly as possible,” and consider sleeve lobectomy the standard for patients with central tumors, Dr. Tong said.
She had no financial relationships to disclose.
The study by Dr. Pagès and his colleagues is unique in the field of surgery for non–small cell lung cancer in that it drew on a nationwide database using data from 103 centers, Betty C. Tong, MD, MHS, of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, said in her invited commentary (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2017;153:196). “These results are likely as close to real life as possible,” she said.
She acknowledged that no prospective, randomized controlled trials have compared sleeve lobectomy to pneumonectomy, but she added, “it is unlikely that such a trial could be successfully executed.” The 5:1 ratio of patients having pneumonectomy vs. sleeve lobectomy in this study is similar to findings from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery database (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2008;132:247-54), Dr. Tong pointed out, “and likely reflects the fact that sleeve lobectomy can be technically more difficult to perform.”
The findings of the French Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery group “should strongly encourage thoracic surgeons to perform pneumonectomy as sparingly as possible,” and consider sleeve lobectomy the standard for patients with central tumors, Dr. Tong said.
She had no financial relationships to disclose.
The study by Dr. Pagès and his colleagues is unique in the field of surgery for non–small cell lung cancer in that it drew on a nationwide database using data from 103 centers, Betty C. Tong, MD, MHS, of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, said in her invited commentary (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2017;153:196). “These results are likely as close to real life as possible,” she said.
She acknowledged that no prospective, randomized controlled trials have compared sleeve lobectomy to pneumonectomy, but she added, “it is unlikely that such a trial could be successfully executed.” The 5:1 ratio of patients having pneumonectomy vs. sleeve lobectomy in this study is similar to findings from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery database (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2008;132:247-54), Dr. Tong pointed out, “and likely reflects the fact that sleeve lobectomy can be technically more difficult to perform.”
The findings of the French Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery group “should strongly encourage thoracic surgeons to perform pneumonectomy as sparingly as possible,” and consider sleeve lobectomy the standard for patients with central tumors, Dr. Tong said.
She had no financial relationships to disclose.
Guidelines that recommend sleeve lobectomy as a means of avoiding pneumonectomy for lung cancer have been based on a limited retrospective series, but a large series drawn from a nationwide database in France has confirmed the preference for sleeve lobectomy because it leads to higher rates of survival, despite an increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications.
“Whenever it is technically possible, surgeons must perform sleeve lobectomy to provide more long-term survival benefits to patients, even with the risk of more postoperative pulmonary complications,” said Pierre-Benoit Pagès, MD, PhD, and his coauthors in the January 2017 issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (2017;153:184-95). Dr. Pagès is with the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the University Hospital Center Dijon (France) and Bocage Hospital.
Three-year overall survival was 71.9% for the sleeve lobectomy group vs. 60.8% for the pneumonectomy group. Three-year disease-free survival was 46.4% for the sleeve lobectomy group and 31.6% for the pneumonectomy group. In addition, compared with the sleeve lobectomy group, the pneumonectomy group had an increased risk of recurrence by matching (hazard ratio, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.1-2).
The researchers performed a propensity-matched analysis that favored sleeve lobectomy for early overall and disease-free survival, but the weighted analysis did not. Patients in the sleeve lobectomy group vs. the pneumonectomy group were younger (60.9 years vs. 61.9), had higher body mass index (25.6 vs. 25.1), had higher average forced expiratory volume (74.1% vs. 62.9%), and had lower American Society of Anesthesiologists scores (73.7% with scores of 1 and 2 vs. 70.8%). Sleeve lobectomy patients also were more likely to have right-sided surgery (69.6% vs. 41%) and squamous cell carcinoma (54.6% vs. 48.3%), and lower T and N stages (T1 and T2, 60.5% vs. 40.6%; N0, 40.9% vs. 26.2%).
Overall mortality after surgery was 5% in the sleeve lobectomy group vs. 5.9% in the pneumonectomy group, but propensity scoring showed far fewer postoperative pulmonary complications in the pneumonectomy group, with an odds ratio of 0.4, Dr. Pagès and his coauthors said. However, with other significant complications – arrhythmia, bronchopleural fistula, empyema, and hemorrhage – pneumonectomy had a propensity-matched odds ratio ranging from 1.6 to 7. “We found no significant difference regarding postoperative mortality in the sleeve lobectomy and pneumonectomy groups, whatever the statistical method used,” Dr. Pagès and his coauthors wrote.
The investigators had no financial relationships to disclose.
Guidelines that recommend sleeve lobectomy as a means of avoiding pneumonectomy for lung cancer have been based on a limited retrospective series, but a large series drawn from a nationwide database in France has confirmed the preference for sleeve lobectomy because it leads to higher rates of survival, despite an increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications.
“Whenever it is technically possible, surgeons must perform sleeve lobectomy to provide more long-term survival benefits to patients, even with the risk of more postoperative pulmonary complications,” said Pierre-Benoit Pagès, MD, PhD, and his coauthors in the January 2017 issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (2017;153:184-95). Dr. Pagès is with the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the University Hospital Center Dijon (France) and Bocage Hospital.
Three-year overall survival was 71.9% for the sleeve lobectomy group vs. 60.8% for the pneumonectomy group. Three-year disease-free survival was 46.4% for the sleeve lobectomy group and 31.6% for the pneumonectomy group. In addition, compared with the sleeve lobectomy group, the pneumonectomy group had an increased risk of recurrence by matching (hazard ratio, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.1-2).
The researchers performed a propensity-matched analysis that favored sleeve lobectomy for early overall and disease-free survival, but the weighted analysis did not. Patients in the sleeve lobectomy group vs. the pneumonectomy group were younger (60.9 years vs. 61.9), had higher body mass index (25.6 vs. 25.1), had higher average forced expiratory volume (74.1% vs. 62.9%), and had lower American Society of Anesthesiologists scores (73.7% with scores of 1 and 2 vs. 70.8%). Sleeve lobectomy patients also were more likely to have right-sided surgery (69.6% vs. 41%) and squamous cell carcinoma (54.6% vs. 48.3%), and lower T and N stages (T1 and T2, 60.5% vs. 40.6%; N0, 40.9% vs. 26.2%).
Overall mortality after surgery was 5% in the sleeve lobectomy group vs. 5.9% in the pneumonectomy group, but propensity scoring showed far fewer postoperative pulmonary complications in the pneumonectomy group, with an odds ratio of 0.4, Dr. Pagès and his coauthors said. However, with other significant complications – arrhythmia, bronchopleural fistula, empyema, and hemorrhage – pneumonectomy had a propensity-matched odds ratio ranging from 1.6 to 7. “We found no significant difference regarding postoperative mortality in the sleeve lobectomy and pneumonectomy groups, whatever the statistical method used,” Dr. Pagès and his coauthors wrote.
The investigators had no financial relationships to disclose.
Key clinical point: Sleeve lobectomy for non–small cell lung cancer may lead to higher rates of overall and disease-free survival vs. pneumonectomy.
Major finding: Overall postoperative mortality was 5% in the sleeve lobectomy group vs. 5.9% in the pneumonectomy group.
Data source: An analysis of 941 sleeve lobectomy and 5,318 pneumonectomy procedures from 2005 to 2014 in the nationwide French database Epithor.
Disclosures: Dr. Pagès has received research grants from the Nuovo-Soldati Foundation for Cancer Research and the French Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, on whose behalf the study was performed. Dr. Pagès and his coauthors had no financial relationships to disclose.