Retrospective study of surgery versus non-surgical management in limited-disease small cell lung cancer

Background The role of surgery in limited small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is still controversial. To assess the role of surgery in SCLC we performed a retrospective analysis of survival in a group of limited stage patients, who were managed with trimodal therapy including surgery, or with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Methods We performed a retrospective survival analysis in a series of 153 limited stage SCLC patients treated between 1995 and 2013. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to calculate the overall survival of the surgical and non-surgical groups. Results Median survival in all patients was 21.5 months. Median survival for surgical and non-surgical patients was 30.5 months and 16.9 months, respectively. The survival curves for the two arms are significantly different (P < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, the benefit of surgical treatment and thoracic radiotherapy varied in a time-dependent fashion. Conclusions Our results suggest that surgery added to chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be associated with a therapeutic benefit in limited SCLC.