Clearview Cancer Center

Quick Links:

Clearview News Wire

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.



Lung cancer often recurs more than 5 years after resection

July 19, 2010

Last Updated: 2010-07-16 14:31:14 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Robert Saunders

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who don't have recurrence for 5 years after resection may not yet be free and clear. Some patients with certain tumor characteristics are at significant risk for a late recurrence, a Japanese team reports in the July issue of Chest.

Dr. Junji Yoshida and colleagues with the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Chiba analyzed data on 1358 patients who had complete resection of NSCLC with systematic lymph node dissection; 819 of them were free of recurrence for 5 years.

Subsequently, 87 of these patients (11%) had a late recurrence.

"Five years is not enough." Dr. Yoshida commented in an email to Reuters Health. "This is both for patient follow-up and for outcome evaluation. Five years has been the standard for both in lung cancer, but we showed there were a significant percentage of NSCLC patients developing recurrence beyond 5 years after surgical resection."

On multivariate analysis, the team found that factors disposing to recurrence more than 5 years after resection were intratumoral vascular invasion and nodal involvement.

Specifically, they report, "The 5-year recurrence-free probabilities from the point of 5 years after primary tumor resection were 81% for patients with intratumoral vascular invasion (p<0.001), and 89%, 84%, and 65% for patients with N0, N1, and N2 cancers, respectively (p<0.001)."

"Patients with vascular invasion positive tumors are at almost a 2-fold risk and those with nodal involvement tumors are at a 4-fold risk of a late recurrence," Dr. Yoshida stated.

Summing up, he said, "Similarly to colorectal cancer, we need to follow lung cancer patients beyond 5 years and to evaluate treatment outcome based on 10-year follow-up."

In their paper, Dr. Yoshida and his colleagues add, "This has implications for whether scheduled long-term follow-up beyond 5 years is warranted, or whether patients should simply be counseled on symptom recognition."

SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/dyh97m

Chest 2010;138:145-150.

Other Articles:

February 3, 2012
Senators urge Komen to reconsider funding decision
February 1, 2012
Eating fish tied to lower risk of colon polyps
January 31, 2012
Kids seek tans, use less sunscreen as they Age
January 18, 2012
FDA approves BTG's drug for cancer toxicity
January 5, 2012
Argentina's Fernandez undergoes cancer surgery
December 20, 2011
Vitamin D has mixed effects on cancer, broken bones
December 13, 2011
Memory issues after cancer may not be due to chemo
December 8, 2011
Quicker radiation therapy doubles mastectomy risk
December 7, 2011
Prostate cancer hormonal therapy cuts deaths: report
November 17, 2011
More fruit tied to lower risk of uterine fibroids
November 15, 2011
Brain scan study finds evidence of 'chemo brain'
November 9, 2011
No link between selenium, lower lung cancer risk
November 8, 2011
Singer Andy Williams reveals he has cancer
November 7, 2011
More evidence obesity tied to colon cancer
November 4, 2011
More evidence obesity tied to colon cancer
View All Cancer News