title: Retrospective study of surgery versus non-surgical management in limited-disease small cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The role of surgery in limited small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is still controversial. To assess the role of surgery in SCLC we performed a retrospective analysis of survival in a group of limited stage patients, who were managed with trimodal therapy including surgery, or with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective survival analysis in a series of 153 limited stage SCLC patients treated between 1995 and 2013. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to calculate the overall survival of the surgical and non-surgical groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median survival in all patients was 21.5 months. Median survival for surgical and non-surgical patients was 30.5 months and 16.9 months, respectively. The survival curves for the two arms are significantly different (P < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, the benefit of surgical treatment and thoracic radiotherapy varied in a time-dependent fashion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that surgery added to chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be associated with a therapeutic benefit in limited SCLC.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shaolei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jindi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Weiheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiangjuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qingfeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Thoracic Oncology II and Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
keywords: Limited disease; small cell lung cancer; surgery