The incidence of second primary tumors in long-term survivors of small-cell lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
A review of 446 patients who were enrolled consecutively in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) protocols was performed to identify in long-term survivors the frequency of new primary tumors and their clinical impact.


RESULTS
Forty-seven patients (10.5%) were identified to be free of disease at 2 years. Second primary tumors (SPTs) were diagnosed in 14 patients. The overall risk for developing an SPT was 10.3% per person-year. Actuarial risk at 8 years was 50.3% for an SPT.


CONCLUSIONS
In this review, SCLC showed one of the highest incidences of SPTs reported in aerodigestive tract malignancies. A long-term survivor was more likely to have an SPT than a relapse of SCLC. Consequently, the odds of death from an SPT compared with that from a relapse increased sharply from 1:13 within 4 years from diagnosis to 8:1 afterwards. Long-term survivors of SCLC would be excellent candidates for chemoprevention trials.
Heyne
K H
KH
Section of Head, Neck, and Thoracic Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030.
Lippman
S M
SM
Lee
J J
JJ
Lee
J S
JS
Hong
W K
WK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors