Pulmonary Resection for Synchronous M1b-cStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Background We wanted to assess the efficacy of curative intent pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with synchronous M1b-distant metastases in a single organ or lesion. Methods Between 1995 and 2015, 23 consecutive synchronous M1b-cStage IV NSCLC patients who underwent any treatment for metastases and curative intent pulmonary resection were retrospectively analyzed. Results Sixteen patients were men and 7 were women, with a median age of 56 years (range: 41 to 76 years). There were 17 adenocarcinoma, 4 large-cell carcinoma, 1 large-cell neuroendocrine cancer, and 1 carcinosarcoma. Thirteen patients had no lymph node metastasis. Fourteen patients received preoperative chemotherapy, and 10 received postoperative chemotherapy. The metastatic sites were the brain in 13 patients; bone in 3 patients; adrenal glands and extrathoracic lymph nodes in 2 patients each; and the liver, small intestine, and subcutaneous tissue in 1 patient each. Nineteen patients underwent lobectomy, and the other 4 patients underwent pneumonectomy. Seventeen patients experienced recurrence as follows: local recurrence in 3 patients, distant recurrence in 13 patients, and both in 1 patient. The 5-year progression-free survival rates in the 23 patients was14.5% (95% confidence interval: 0% to 30.6%), and the 5-year overall survival rate was 41.7% (95% confidence interval: 19.6% to 63.8%). Conclusions Some M1b-cStage IV NSCLC patients achieved longer survival than others with the same stage disease by using local treatment for distant metastases and curative intent pulmonary resection. Oligometastatic patients might have been inadvertently included in the present cohort. However, at present, the optimum method for patient selection remains unclear.