Feasibility and prognostic benefit of induction chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: The optimal treatment for patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) involving adjacent organs (T3 or T4) and/or cN2 remains unclear. We investigated whether or not induction chemoradiotherapy (ICRT) followed by surgery improves the survival. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 84 patients with NSCLC involving the adjacent organs and/or cN2 who underwent ICRT followed by surgery at our hospital from 2006 to 2018. Presurgical treatment consisted of 2 courses of platinum-doublet and concurrent radiotherapy (40–50 Gy) to the tumor and involved field. RESULTS: All 84 patients completed ICRT. One patient died after completion of ICRT due to bacterial pneumonia. Radiological responses to ICRT were a complete response (CR), n=1; partial response (PR), n=48; stable disease (SD), n=32; and progressive disease (PD), n=2 (overall response rate: 58.3%). Eighty-one patients underwent radical surgery. The procedures included lobectomy, n=66; bilobectomy, n=7; pneumonectomy, n=6; and segmentectomy, n=2 (including 49 extended resections). Seventy-three patients (90%) underwent complete resection. The postoperative morbidity rate was 30%. The 30- and 90-day mortality rates were 1.2% and 2.4%, respectively. A pathological CR (Ef3) and major response (Ef2) were achieved in 17 (21.0%) and 38 (46.9%) patients, respectively; a minor response (Ef1) was observed in 26 (32%). The 5-year overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 58.0% and 45.6%, respectively. The median survival time was 73.2 months. Based on the response to ICRT, patients with radiological CR or PR showed better 5-year OS than those with SD (63.7% vs. 40.0%, P=0.020). Patients with Ef3 or Ef2 demonstrated a much better 5-year OS than those with Ef1 (65.0% vs. 24.4%, P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: ICRT followed by surgery for patients with NSCLC involving the adjacent organs and/or cN2 was feasible and improved the survival. A CR/PR or Ef2/Ef3 after ICRT led to a better prognosis.