Prognostic factors after surgical resection of N1 non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) with N1 involvement is associated with 5-year survival rates ranging from 7% to 55%. Numerous factors have been independently reported to explain this heterogeneous prognosis, but their relative weight on long-term survival is unknown.

METHODS: Patients who underwent surgical resection for NSCLC in two French centers from 1993 to 2010 were prospectively recorded and retrospectively reviewed. The overall survival (OS) of patients undergoing first-line surgery for pN1 disease was analyzed according to the type of extension, number of metastatic LN, number and anatomic location of metastatic stations.

RESULTS: The study group included 450 patients (male 80.2%, mean age 63.3 ± 9.9 years, 5-year overall survival 46%). The number of metastatic station was 1 in 340 (75.6%, single-station disease) and ≥2 in 110 patients (24.4%, multi-station disease). The number of metastatic stations was correlated with the number of metastatic LN (p < .001), and associated with adverse OS (p = .0014). The presence of intralobar metastatic LN (station 12-13-14) was associated with a mechanism of direct extension (p < .001), but did not impact OS (p = .71). The location of metastatic stations was of prognostic significance only in case of multi-station disease, with hilar (station 10) involvement being associated with adverse OS (p = .005). The 110 patients with multi-station pN1 disease and the 134 patients operated on for single-station pN0N2 (skip-N2) disease during the study period yield comparable outcome (p = .52).

CONCLUSIONS: In patients with resected pN1 NSCLC, the number of metastatic stations and their location in case of multi-station disease have a prognostic value.