Surgical resection of primary tumors improved the prognosis of patients with bone metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer: a population-based and propensity score-matched study

Background Most patients with lung cancer are in an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis due to occult onset. Bone is one of the most common sites of hematogenous metastasis of lung cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of surgical resection of primary tumors on the prognosis of patients with bone metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer, using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Methods A total of 9,804 patients with only bone metastasis were identified from the SEER database. Propensity score matching was used to reduce the selection bias. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between patients with or without primary tumor resection. The Cox regression model was applied to evaluate multiple prognostic factors. Results After propensity score matching, 424 patients were selected for survival analysis. No statistically significant differences were found in age, sex, race, tumor location, histology, T stage, and N stage between patients with or without surgical resection of primary tumors. The prognosis of patients who underwent surgical resection of primary tumors was significantly better than that of patients who had not undergone surgery. The surgical resection of primary tumors was an independent prognostic factor. The prognosis of patients who underwent lobectomy/bilobectomy was significantly better compared to other surgical types. Regional lymph node resection during surgery also significantly improved the prognosis of the patients. Conclusions For patients with only bone metastasis, surgical resection of primary tumors could significantly improve prognosis. Lobectomy/bilobectomy with regional lymph node resection was the best surgical strategy.