Background: The standard approach for treating recurrence after complete resection of primary non-small cell lung cancer has been controversial. We present here a multidisciplinary strategy for postoperative recurrence in patients with primary lung cancer.
Patients and methods: Over the last 7 years, we examined the disease-free survival and overall survival of 70 patients who underwent multidisciplinary treatment for recurrence after surgical resection of primary lung cancer.
Results: The median overall survival was 32.3 months after surgery and 17.4 months after recurrence developed, indicating significantly better prognoses in females and in patients with adenocarcinoma, stage I disease, driver mutation positivity, a longer postoperative disease-free period, and never smokers. Eight patients survived more than 5 years after recurrence;of these patients, all had adenocarcinomas, 7 had oligometastases and/or tumor dormancy, and 5 received multiple-drug regimens.
Conclusion: Multidisciplinary treatment for recurrence after resection of primary lung cancer was effective for patients receiving various drug regimens. In patients with oligometastases, disease control was achieved by a combination of local treatments targeting each involved organ. In patients with tumor dormancy, follow-up or a drug holiday was important to maintain the patient's quality of life.