Abstract:
Objective:To observe the locoregional recurrence and survival of stage ⅢA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after in-duction chemotherapy and surgery, to analyze the prognosis influenced by nodal downstaging, and to explore the necessity for postop-erative radiotherapy. Methods:A total of 116 cases of stage ⅢA-N2 NSCLC were treated with induction chemotherapy and surgery be -tween January 2009and June 2014. These cases underwent R0 resection. Kaplan-Meier method was employed to calculate the local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and overall survival (OS) of the patients. Log rank test was con -ducted to compare the differences between groups. Cox models were used to perform multivariate analysis. Results:The median fol-low- up of the patients was 24. 42months. The numbers of patients with pN0, pN1, and pN2 were40(34. 5% ), 16(13. 8% ), and 60 (51. 7%), respectively. The3-year local recurrence rates of patients with pN0, pN1, and pN2 were27. 5%, 56. 2%, and 51. 7%, respectively. In the group treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, the 3- year local- recurrence rates of patients with pN 0, pN1, and pN2 were26. 9% ,58. 3% , and 46. 2% , respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the significant predictor of LRFS was pN 0 during the surgery. The LRFS of patients with pN0 was greater than that of the patients with pN1 (P=0. 048 ). The LRFS of patients with pN 1 was not significantly associated with that of patients with pN2 (P=0. 314 ). The 5-year OS rate of the groups was 46. 6%. The multivariate analysis also demon strated that pT1, pN0- 1, and induction chemotherapy effects were associated with OS. The patients with pN2 yielded a poorer OS than those with pN 0 and pN 1 (P<0. 05). The patients with pN0 did not significantly differ from those with pN1 in terms of OS ( P=0. 412 ). Conclu -sion: Although the occurrence of pathologic downstaging is a well-known positive prognostic indicator after stageⅢ-N 2 NSCLC is sub-jected to chemotherapy, the local-recurrence rate of nodal-downstaged patients remains high, even when they receive adjuvant che -motherapy. Therefore, new postoperative strategies after induction chemotherapy and surgery should be developed.