Long-Term Survival With Salvage Surgery in Persistent Lung Cancer

Abstract

Objective: Our study presents a case with locally-advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) having salvage pneumonectomy due to persistent disease. Case Description: A 46-year old man with stage IIIB (cT4N3M0) NSCLC received 39Gy (13x3Gy) thoracic radiotherapy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Partial response was obtained after radiotherapy. Chemotherapy was continued after radiotherapy. At 28th month of followup without treatment, isolated local progression was detected. The patient underwent right pneumonectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection revealing ypT2aN0 adenocarcinoma. After adjuvant chemotherapy, he’s disease-free at 88 months after salvage surgery. Conclusion: In selected patients, salvage surgery seems to provide increased survival causing acceptable morbidity and mortality.