title: Treatment of central type lung cancer by combined cryotherapy: experiences of 47 patients.
abstract: Most patients with central type lung cancer (CTLC) are not candidates for surgery; systemic chemotherapy and external beam radiotherapy are the main treatments but have not greatly affected patient outcome. Combined percutaneous and endobronchial cryotherapy has been used successfully to treat CTLC; this study aimed to determine its feasibility and safety. Forty-seven patients with unresectable CTLC (22 endotracheal, 26 tracheal wall and 21 extratracheal tumors) underwent 69 sessions of combined percutaneous cryosurgery, endobronchial cryosurgery and airway stenting. The long diameter of all tumors was <5 cm. Biopsy showed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 40 patients (medium or well differentiated in 20 cases, poorly differentiated in 20) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in seven. Within 3 days after treatment, ventilatory capacity and performance status had obviously increased and cough, signs of dyspnea, hemoptysis and atelectasis improved significantly, but symptoms of pneumothorax and pleural effusion emerged. After 2 weeks, all complications had disappeared completely, as had cough. Progression-free survival (PFS) for endotracheal tumors (8 ± 4 months) was shorter than that for tracheal wall (13 ± 6 months, P < 0.05) and extratracheal (14 ± 8 months, P < 0.01) tumors. The PFS of NSCLC (11 ± 5 months) was significantly longer than that of SCLC (4 ± 2 months, P < 0.0001). The PFS of medium or well differentiated CTLC (15 ± 8 months) was significantly longer than that of poorly differentiated CTLC (7 ± 3 months, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, combined cryotherapy is a safe and effective treatment for CTLC, with PFS largely influenced by tumor location and pathologic type.
authors.affiliation: Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University School of Medicine, No. 2 Tangdexi Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510665, China.
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhikai
authors.forename: Niu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lizhi
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Zeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jianying
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jibing
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jialiang
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kecheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Airway stenting; Central type lung cancer; Endobronchial cryosurgery; Percutaneous cryosurgery