Lung resection is safe and feasible among stage IV cancer patients: An American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program analysis

Background: Operative resection can be associated with improved survival for selected patients with stage IV malignancies but may also be associated with prohibitive acute morbidity and mortality. We sought to evaluate rates of acute morbidity and mortality after lung resection in patients with disseminated malignancy with primary lung cancer and non-lung cancer pulmonary metastatic disease.

Methods: For 2011-2012, 6,360 patients were identified from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program undergoing lung resections, including 603 patients with disseminated malignancy. Logistic regression analyses were used to compare outcomes between patients with and without disseminated malignancy.

Results: After controlling for preoperative and intraoperative differences, we observed no statistically significant differences in rates of 30-day overall and serious morbidity or mortality between disseminated malignancy and non-disseminated malignancy patients (P > .05). Disseminated malignancy patients were less likely to have a prolonged duration of stay and be discharged to a facility compared to non-disseminated malignancy patients (P < .05). Subgroup analyses by procedure type and diagnosis showed similar results.

Conclusion: Disseminated malignancy patients undergoing lung resections experienced low rates of overall morbidity, serious morbidity, and mortality comparable to non-disseminated malignancy patients. These data suggest that lung resections may be performed safely on carefully selected, disseminated malignancy patients with both primary lung cancer and pulmonary metastatic disease, with important implications for multimodality care.