The effect of surgical treatment on survival from early lung cancer. Implications for screening.
We assessed the effect of surgery on survival from stage I non-small-cell lung cancer based on data collected in these screening programs. The majority of patients diagnosed in each program were treated by surgical resection, but 5 percent of the Sloan-Kettering group, 21 percent of the Hopkins group and 11 percent of the Mayo group failed to receive surgical treatment. Approximately 70 percent of the stage I patients in each program who were treated surgically survived more than five years, but there were only two five-year survivors among those who did not have surgery. We conclude that patients with lung cancers detected in stage I by chest x-ray film and treated surgically have a good chance of remaining free of disease for many years. Those stage I lung cancers which are not resected progress and lead to death within five years. Therefore, every effort should be made to detect and treat lung cancer early in high-risk populations.
Flehinger
B J
BJ
Department of Mathematical Sciences, IBM Research Division, T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598.
Kimmel
M
M
Melamed
M R
MR
D000367:Age Factors; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008400:Mass Chest X-Ray; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States