Wedge Resection for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer in Patients with Pulmonary Insufficiency: Prospective Ten-Year Survival:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer: inter-relationships

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a well established risk factor for lung cancer. Newer studies reveal a myriad of other mechanisms, some proven and some putative, which may contribute to their association.

RECENT FINDINGS

There is an ever-growing bundle of evidence that suggests a close association between persistent chronic inflammation and lung cancer. A few potential targets of genetic susceptibility locus for COPD and lung cancer have been suggested. Better characterization of immune dysregulation and identification of signaling pathways may assist the development of strategies to reduce risk of developing lung cancer in patients with COPD. Current lung cancer screening strategies may exclude some patients at high risk of having lung cancer. Prospective studies indicate that a screening criterion that includes variables reflecting the severity of COPD may increase the sensitivity of the screening program and reduce 'over-diagnosis bias' of indolent lung cancers. Examples of such variables include the emphysema score generated from computed tomography scans and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide derived from lung function tests.

SUMMARY

A better understanding of the inter-relationship between lung cancer pathogenesis and COPD has been described recently. Improving lung cancer screening strategies by incorporating markers of COPD severity has recently been proposed.

Potential errors in staging primary pulmonary adenocarcinomas by sublobar resection

INTRODUCTION

There is increasing interest in treating patients with stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma with sublobar resection and staging lymphadenectomy (StLN), but there is no information on the potential impact of this approach on staging.

METHODS

A total of 241 consecutive wedge resections followed by immediate completion lobectomy (n = 225), bilobectomy (n = 3), or trisegmentectomy (n = 13) ("second specimens") and StLN were retrieved from our database. Tumor location, size, pT, and distance to closest margin (D) in the wedge specimens were compared with the presence of residual and/or additional tumor nodules in the lung and metastatic tumor in N1 lymph nodes of the "second specimens."

RESULTS

Residual tumor (n = 14), additional tumor nodules (n = 9), and both (n = 1) were present in the lung parenchyma of 24 "second specimens." Problems orienting residual tumor to tumor in the wedge made it difficult to accurately determine overall tumor size and final pT in some cases. In 10 of the 241 cases, metastatic tumor was present only in N1 lymph nodes in the "second specimen."

CONCLUSIONS

Sublobar resections with StLN would have potentially understaged 19 (7.9%) of 241 patients (9 as pT1 or pT2 instead of pT3, 9 as pN0 instead of pN1, and 1 as pT1N0 instead of pT3N1). Preoperative positron emission tomography/computed tomography suggested the presence of more than 1 parenchymal tumor nodule and/or metastatic tumor in N1 lymph nodes of the "second specimen" in only 5 of these cases. Sublobar resections may miss additional tumor nodules and positive lymph nodes and understage a small proportion of pulmonary adenocarcinoma patients.

Lung cancer in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: enhancing surgical options and outcomes

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for both the development of primary lung cancer, as well as poor outcome after lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. Because of existing impairments in lung function, patients with COPD often do not meet traditional criteria for tolerance of definitive surgical lung cancer therapy. Emerging information regarding the physiology of lung resection in COPD indicates that postoperative decrements in lung function may be less than anticipated by traditional prediction tools. In patients with COPD, more inclusive consideration for surgical resection with curative intent may be appropriate as limited surgical resections or nonsurgical therapeutic options provide inferior survival. Furthermore, optimizing perioperative COPD medical care according to clinical practice guidelines including smoking cessation can potentially minimize morbidity and improve functional status in this often severely impaired patient population.