Benchmarking Outcomes for Molecularly Characterized Synchronous Oligometastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Reveals EGFR Mutations to Be Associated With Longer Overall Survival

Resection of the Primary Tumor and Survival in Patients with Single-Site Synchronous Oligometastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Propensity-Matched Analysis of the National Cancer Database

BACKGROUND

Local therapy for the primary tumor is postulated to remove resistant cancer cells as well as immunosuppressive cells from the tumor microenvironment, potentially improving response to systemic therapy (ST). We sought to determine whether resection of the primary tumor was associated with overall survival (OS) in a multicentric cohort of patients with single-site synchronous oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

STUDY DESIGN

Using the National Cancer Database (2018 to 2020), we evaluated patients with clinical stage IVA disease who received ST and stratified the cohort based on receipt of surgery for the primary tumor (S). We used multivariable and propensity score-matched analysis to study factors associated with S (logistic regression) and OS (Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier), respectively.

RESULTS

Among 12,215 patients identified, 2.9% (N = 349) underwent S and 97.1% (N = 11,886) ST (chemotherapy or immunotherapy) without surgery. Patients who underwent S were younger, more often White, had higher income levels, were more likely to have private insurance, and were more often treated at an academic facility. Among those who received S, 22.9% (N = 80) also underwent resection of the distant metastatic site. On multivariable analysis, metastasis to bone, N+ disease, and higher T-stages were independently associated with less S. On Cox regression, S and resection of the metastatic site were associated with improved survival (hazard ratio 0.67, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.80 and hazard ratio 0.80, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.88, respectively). After propensity matching, OS was improved in patients undergoing S (median 36.8 vs 20.8 months, log-rank p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Advances in ST for non-small cell lung cancer may change the paradigm of eligibility for surgery. This study demonstrates that surgical resection of the primary tumor is associated with improved OS in selected patients with single-site oligometastatic disease.

Is oligoprogression a potentially curable disease in epidermal growth factor receptor mutant lung adenocarcinoma?

Third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have shown impressive results in EGFR mutant lung cancer (LC) patients in terms of disease control rate with a positive impact on overall survival. Nevertheless, after months of treatment with targeted therapy, progression inevitably occurs. Some patients develop oligoprogression and local treatment is required for optimal disease control while maintaining EGFR-TKIs. This work features a clinical case of a patient harboring an EGFR mutant LC undergoing oligoprogression to EGFR-TKIs, first into the brain and afterward to the primary tumor, requiring local ablative strategies, including primary tumor resection three years after the start of osimertinib. Currently, the patient is still alive and continues with a complete response upon EGFR-TKIs maintenance. Hence, oligoprogression, even in driven oncogenic tumors, represents a distinct biological entity and potential curative disease that deserves particular consideration in multidisciplinary tumor boards. In this case, tumor primary resection after three years of the initial diagnosis represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of EGFR mutant patients.