Video-assisted anterior approach to Pancoast tumors

Surgical Approaches to Pancoast Tumors

Pancoast tumors, also defined as superior sulcus tumors, still represent a complex clinical condition requiring high technical surgical skills within more articulated multimodality treatment. The morbidity and mortality rates after Pancoast tumor treatments range from 10 to 55% and 0 to 7%, respectively, and the 5-year survival rate has significantly improved in recent years thanks to the advancement of treatments. Although a multimodality approach combining chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery allows for radical resection and effective local control in the vast majority of patients, many patients cannot receive surgical resection or complete the whole programmed therapeutic regimen. Systemic relapse, particularly cerebral recurrence, still poses a significant issue in this cohort of patients. Surgical resection still plays a pivotal role within the multimodality approach. Here, we focus on surgical approaches to both anterior and posterior Pancoast tumors: the anterior transclavicular approach (Dartevelle); the anterior transmanubrial approach (Grunenwald-Spaggiari); the anterior trap-door approach (Masaoka, Nomori); the posterior approach (Shaw-Paulson); the hemiclamshell approach; and hybrid approaches. Global clinical condition, tumor histology, and long-term perspectives should always be taken into consideration when embarking on such a demanding oncologic scenario.

Combined video-assisted thoracoscopy surgery and posterior midline incision for en bloc resection of non-small-cell lung cancer invading the spine

OBJECTIVES

This article aims to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a hybrid video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) approach to achieve en bloc lobectomy and spinal resection for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS

Between October 2015 and November 2020, 10 patients underwent VATS anatomical lobectomy and en bloc chest wall and spinal resection through a limited posterior midline incision as a single operation for T4 (vertebral involvement) lung cancer. Nine patients had Pancoast syndrome without vascular involvement and 1 patient had NSCLC of the right lower lobe with invasion of T9 and T10.

RESULTS

There were 5 men and 5 women. The mean age was 61 years (range: 47-74 years). Induction treatment was administered to 9 patients (90%). The average operative time was 315.5 min (range: 250-375 min). The average blood loss was 665 ml (range: 100-2500 ml). Spinal resection was hemivertebrectomy in 6 patients and wedge corpectomy in 4 patients. Complete resection (R0) was achieved in all patients. The average hospitalization stay was 14 days (range: 6-50 days). There was no in-hospital mortality. The mean follow-up was 32.3 months (range: 6-66 months). Six patients (60%) are alive without recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

VATS is feasible and safe to achieve en bloc resection of NSCLC inviding the spine without compromising oncological efficacy. Further experience and longer follow-up are needed to determine if this approach provides any advantages over thoracotomy.

[Advance of Treatment for Superior Sulcus Tumor of the Lung]

肺上沟瘤是指发生在肺上沟区的的支气管源性肿瘤, 是非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC)的一个独特的临床亚型, 占肺癌总数不足5%。它常侵犯第1肋、臂丛、锁骨下动静脉、交感神经链、星状神经节和(或)椎体等胸廓入口结构。近几十年, 肺上沟瘤的治疗取得了不断的进展, 最新发布的几个临床试验证实了同期放化疗加手术切除能够改善肿瘤的完整切除率、局部控制率和病理缓解率, 延长患者的总生存时间。已经成为肺上沟瘤的治疗最为有效的方式, 并成为美国国立综合癌症网络(National Comprehensive Cancer Network, NCCN)和美国胸科医师协会(American College of Chest Physicians, ACCP)指南推荐的肺上沟瘤治疗方案。本文回顾国内外相关文献, 简要介绍肺上沟瘤手术治疗及综合治疗的进展情况。

Less Invasive Approach to Pancoast Tumor in a Partitioned Incision

We describe our approach to resect a Pancoast tumor with thoracoscopic assistance in a partitioned incision. We used the LigaSure vessel-sealing system under thoracoscopy in chest wall resection for Pancoast tumor. This approach is of great utility: easy-to use and less invasive for Pancoast tumor resection.

Management of Lung Cancer Invading the Superior Sulcus

Superior sulcus tumors have posed a formidable therapeutic challenge since their original description by Pancoast and Tobias in the early twentieth century. Initial therapeutic efforts with radiotherapy were associated with high rates of relapse and mortality. Bimodality therapy with complete surgical resection in the 1960s paved the way for trimodality therapy as the current standard of care in the treatment of superior sulcus tumors. The evolution of treatment approaches over time has provided outcomes that come increasingly closer to rivaling those of similarly staged nonapical lung cancer.

Superior sulcus tumors (Pancoast tumors)

Superior Sulcus Tumors, frequently termed as Pancoast tumors, are a wide range of tumors invading the apical chest wall. Due to its localization in the apex of the lung, with the potential invasion of the lower part of the brachial plexus, first ribs, vertebrae, subclavian vessels or stellate ganglion, the superior sulcus tumors cause characteristic symptoms, like arm or shoulder pain or Horner's syndrome. The management of superior sulcus tumors has dramatically evolved over the past 50 years. Originally deemed universally fatal, in 1956, Shaw and Paulson introduced a new treatment paradigm with combined radiotherapy and surgery ensuring 5-year survival of approximately 30%. During the 1990s, following the need to improve systemic as well as local control, a trimodality approach including induction concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by surgical resection was introduced, reaching 5-year survival rates up to 44% and becoming the standard of care. Many efforts have been persecuted, also, to obtain higher complete resection rates using appropriate surgical approaches and involving multidisciplinary team including spine surgeon or vascular surgeon. Other potential treatment options are under consideration like prophylactic cranial irradiation or the addition of other chemotherapy agents or biologic agents to the trimodality approach.

[Anterior or Posterior Approach with Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Superior Sulcus Tumors]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The surgical resection for pancoast tumors remains challenging. There are only few reports explaining the use of VATS in the treatment of Pancoast tumors. The aim of this study is to assess whether the use of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for the surgical treatment of Pancoast tumors was feasible and safe.

METHODS

Between Janunary 2010 and June 2013, ten patients who were diagnosed as Pancoast tumors were recruited. Six patients were accepted for surgical treatment either through an anterior (n=3) or a posterior approach (n=3) combined with VATS. The observation index of this study included: Operation safety and mortality; The integrity of the tumor resection; General data of operation and postoperative complications; Tumor recurrence and metastasis at twelve months after operation.

RESULTS

There were no perioperative deaths. The average time of operation time was 242 min. The radical en bloc resection of the involved chest wall were done in each patients. The average amount of blood loss was 308 mL and the average time of hospital stay was 14 d. Only one patient had postoperative pneumonia and recovered after use of antibiotics. There was none of severe postoperative complications. No patient developed a local recurrence or distant metastasis within twelve months.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of VATS has practical value in the management of Pancoast tumors. It is useful to make an accurate extent of the resection of chest-wall and provides a better exposure. Anterior or posterior approach with VATS surgery can facilitate the safety management of Pancoast tumors.

Total video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) resection of a left-sided sulcus superior tumor after induction radiochemotherapy: video and review

BACKGROUND

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has gained increasing acceptance for surgical therapy of early stage non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Even for extended pulmonary resections in advanced tumor stages, increasing evidence suggests feasibility and safety of the VATS approach. However, so far very little experience has been reported on VATS management of sulcus superior tumors.

METHODS

We report on a 56-year-old female patient with a left-sided anterior sulcus superior adenocarcinoma (cT3 cN1 cM0), which was completely resected by VATS after induction radiochemotherapy.

RESULTS

The surgical procedure was performed completely minimally invasively via a three-incision anterior thoracoscopic approach. The total operating time was 285 min (composed of 116 min for hilar lobectomy, 103 min for sulcus superior preparation and chest wall resection, and 26 min for systematic en-bloc lymph node dissection). The single chest tube was removed on postoperative day two and the patient was discharged on postoperative day six. No intraoperative and no postoperative complications were observed. Histopathology confirmed a complete (R0) resection of an ypT2aN0M0 bronchogenic adenocarcinoma.

CONCLUSION

With increasing experience even extended pulmonary resections are safe and feasible by a video-assisted thoracoscopic approach. We propose that in sulcus superior tumors without tumor invasion of vascular structures VATS can be considered.

The "cut-in patch-out" technique for Pancoast tumor resections results in postoperative pain reduction: a case control study

BACKGROUND

Since 2001 we have utilized a novel surgical approach for Pancoast tumors in which lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection are performed directly though the chest wall defect. The defect is then patched at the completion of the procedure ("cut-in patch-out") thereby avoiding a separate thoracotomy with rib spreading. We undertook a study to compare outcomes of this novel "cut-in patch-out" technique with traditional thoracotomy for patients with Pancoast tumors.

METHODS

We retrospectively identified 41 patients undergoing surgical resection of Pancoast tumors requiring en-bloc removal of at least 3 ribs at our institution from 1999 to 2012. Surgery was accomplished by either a "cut-in patch-out" technique (n = 25) or traditional posterolateral thoracotomy and separate chest wall resection (n = 16). Multiple variables including patient demographics, neoadjuvant therapy, extent of resection, and pathology were analyzed with respect to outcomes from morbidity, narcotic use, and oncologic perspectives.

RESULTS

Baseline demographics, neoadjuvant therapy, and perioperative factors including extent of surgery, complete resections (R0), nodal status and lymph node number, morbidity, and mortality were similar between the two groups. The mean duration of out-patient narcotic use was significantly lower in the "cut-in patch-out" group compared to the thoracotomy group (80.6 days ± 62.4 vs. 158.2 days ± 119.2, p < 0.01). Using multivariate regression analysis, the traditional thoracotomy technique (OR 7.72; p = 0.01) was independently associated with prolonged oral narcotic requirements (>100 days). Additionally, five year survival for the "cut-in patch-out" group was 48% versus the traditional group at 12.5% (p = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with a traditional thoracotomy and separate chest wall resection approach for P-NSCLC, a "cut-in patch-out" technique offers an alternative approach that appears to have at least oncologic equivalence while decreasing pain. We have more recently adapted this technique to select patients with pulmonary neoplasms involving chest wall invasion and believe further investigation is warranted.

Superior sulcus (Pancoast) tumors: current evidence on diagnosis and radical treatment

Pancoast tumors account for less than 5% of all bronchogenic carcinomas. These tumors are located in the apex of the lung and involve through tissue contiguity the apical chest wall and/or the structures of the thoracic inlet. The tumors become clinically evident with the characteristic symptoms of the "Pancoast-Tobias syndrome" which includes Claude-Bernard-Horner syndrome, severe pain in the shoulder radiating toward the axilla and/or scapula and along the ulnar distribution of the upper arm, atrophy of hand and arm muscles and obstruction of the subclavian vein resulting in edema of the upper arm. The diagnosis will be made by the combination of the characteristic clinical symptoms with the radiographic findings of a mass or opacity in the apex of the lung infiltrating the 1(st) and/or 2(nd) ribs. A tissue diagnosis of the tumor via CT-guided FNA/B should always be available before the initiation of treatment. Bronchoscopy, thoracoscopy and biopsy of palpable supraclavicular nodes are alternative ways to obtain a tissue diagnosis. Adenocarcinomas account for 2/3 of all Pancoast tumors, while the rest of the tumors are squamous cell and large cell carcinomas. Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic inlet is always recommended to define the exact extent of tumor invasion within the thoracic inlet before surgical intervention. Pancoast tumors are by definition T3 or T4 tumors. Induction chemo-radiotherapy is the standard of care for any potentially resectable Pancoast tumor followed by an attempt to achieve a complete tumor resection. Resection can be made through a variety of anterior and posterior approaches to the thoracic inlet. The choice of the approach depends on the location of the tumor (posterior - middle - anterior compartment of the thoracic inlet) and the depth/extent of invasion. Prognosis depends mainly on T stage of tumor, response to preoperative chemo-radiotherapy and completeness of resection. Resection of the invaded strictures of the thoracic inlet should me made en bloc with pulmonary parenchyma resection, preferably an upper lobectomy. Invasion of the vertebral column is not a contraindication for surgery which, however, should be performed in oncologic centers with experience in spinal surgery. Surgery for Pancoast tumors is associated with 5% mortality rate and the complication rate varies from 7-38%. The overall 2-year survival rate after induction chemo-radiotherapy and resection varies from 55% to 70%, while the 5-year survival for R0 resections is quite good (54-77%). The main pattern of recurrence is that of distant metastases, especially in the brain.

Chest wall resection and reconstruction according to the principles of biomimesis

Biomimesis has become the objective of the reconstructive strategies after chest wall resections for primary or secondary tumors. Biomimesis is pursued by respecting the anatomy, preserving function, selecting adequate reconstructive materials, and integrating multidisciplinary efforts for complex reconstructions. Elements of novelty in the clinical practice are represented by the introduction of the principles of video-assisted thoracic surgery to resect chest wall tumors and the increasingly frequent resort to either new materials or revised concepts of time-honored ones for chest wall reconstruction. Experimental investigation seems to outline interesting perspectives for materials destined to reconstruction after either partial or full-thickness resections for recurrent chest wall tumors.