Thorough survey and analysis of pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma in Macau and multimodality treatment for advanced disease

Abstract Objective Pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) is a rare type of non-small cell lung cancer. The clinical course and prognosis of advanced LELC are largely unknown. Few reports have discussed multimodality treatment for LELC. Materials and methods This retrospective study identified records from 2007–2018 of pulmonary LELCs and other lung cancer subtypes from hospital information systems and collected demographic, treatment, and survival data. Results In this cohort of 69 LELCs (median age: 55.4), more female, non-smokers, and fewer right upper lobe tumors (4.3%) were observed in the LELC subgroup compared with others. The median overall survival (OS) of LELCs was 40 months, superior to other subtypes (p  Conclusion Patients who underwent radical resection of primary tumors had better prognoses. Patients with advanced LELC could achieve satisfactory survival by receiving multimodality treatment, including platinum-based chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors may be part of future therapies. A well-organized clinical trial should be performed to determine the optimal treatment regimen.