Long-Term Recurrence of Completely Resected NSCLC

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical backgrounds, including driver mutations, of those patients with early stage NSCLC who experienced recurrence beyond 5 years after complete resection. METHODS: We used a cohort of 512 consecutive cases of surgically resected NSCLC without other malignances from 2006 to 2011 in Aichi Cancer Center Hospital. The inclusion criteria for this cohort were patients with primary NSCLC who underwent a surgically curable operation. RESULTS: A total of 172 patients (32.8%) had recurrence after the surgery. Among the recurrent cases, 17 patients (3.3%) had a relapse more than 5 years after the surgery, and all except one (16 of 17, 94.1%) had driver mutations, including gene rearrangements. CONCLUSIONS: Even in early stage NSCLC after complete resection, it was found that some cases had a relapse more than 5 years after the surgery. Most of these cases had some kind of driver mutations; so more than 5 years of postoperative surveillance may be beneficial, especially in those with driver gene mutants.