Dataset Information

Analysis of Delayed Surgical Treatment and Oncologic Outcomes in Clinical Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

The association between delayed surgical treatment and oncologic outcomes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is poorly understood given that prior studies have used imprecise definitions for the date of cancer diagnosis.

Objective

To use a uniform method to quantify surgical treatment delay and to examine its association with several oncologic outcomes.

Design, setting, and participants

This retrospective cohort study was conducted using a novel data set from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system. Included patients had clinical stage I NSCLC and were undergoing resection from 2006 to 2016 within the VHA system. Time to surgical treatment (TTS) was defined as the time between preoperative diagnostic computed tomography imaging and surgical treatment. We evaluated the association between TTS and several delay-associated outcomes using restricted cubic spline functions. Data analyses were performed in November 2021.

Exposure

Wait time between cancer diagnosis and surgical treatment (ie, TTS).

Main outcomes and measures

Several delay-associated oncologic outcomes, including pathologic upstaging, resection with positive margins, and recurrence, were assessed. We also assessed overall survival.

Results

Among 9904 patients who underwent surgical treatment for clinical stage I NSCLC, 9539 (96.3%) were men, 4972 individuals (50.5%) were currently smoking, and the mean (SD) age was 67.7 (7.9) years. The mean (SD) TTS was 70.1 (38.6) days. TTS was not associated with increased risk of pathologic upstaging or positive margins. Recurrence was detected in 4158 patients (42.0%) with median (interquartile range) follow-up of 6.15 (2.51-11.51) years. Factors associated with increased risk of recurrence included younger age (hazard ratio [HR] for every 1-year increase in age, 0.992; 95% CI, 0.987-0.997; P = .003), higher Charlson Comorbidity Index score (HR for every 1-unit increase in composite score, 1.055; 95% CI, 1.037-1.073; P < .001), segmentectomy (HR vs lobectomy, 1.352; 95% CI, 1.179-1.551; P < .001) or wedge resection (HR vs lobectomy, 1.282; 95% CI, 1.179-1.394; P < .001), larger tumor size (eg, 31-40 mm vs <10 mm; HR, 1.209; 95% CI, 1.051-1.390; P = .008), higher tumor grade (eg, II vs I; HR, 1.210; 95% CI, 1.085-1.349; P < .001), lower number of lymph nodes examined (eg, ≥10 vs <10; HR, 0.866; 95% CI, 0.803-0.933; P < .001), higher pathologic stage (III vs I; HR, 1.571; 95% CI, 1.351-1.837; P < .001), and longer TTS, with increasing risk after 12 weeks. For each week of surgical delay beyond 12 weeks, the hazard for recurrence increased by 0.4% (HR, 1.004; 95% CI, 1.001-1.006; P = .002). Factors associated with delayed surgical treatment included African American race (odds ratio [OR] vs White race, 1.267; 95% CI, 1.112-1.444; P < .001), higher area deprivation index [ADI] score (OR for every 1 unit increase in ADI score, 1.005; 95% CI, 1.002-1.007; P = .002), lower hospital case load (OR for every 1-unit increase in case load, 0.998; 95% CI, 0.998-0.999; P = .001), and year of diagnosis, with less recent procedures more likely to have delay (OR for each additional year, 0.900; 95% CI, 0.884-0.915; P < .001). Patients with surgical treatment within 12 weeks of diagnosis had significantly better overall survival than those with procedures delayed more than 12 weeks (HR, 1.132; 95% CI, 1.064-1.204; P < .001).

Conclusions and relevance

Using a more precise definition for TTS, this study found that surgical procedures delayed more than 12 weeks were associated with increased risk of recurrence and worse survival. These findings suggest that patients with clinical stage I NSCLC should undergo expeditious treatment within that time frame.

SUBMITTER: Heiden BT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8160592 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundLobectomy has long been regarded as the standard treatment for operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Recent studies suggested that segmentectomy could achieve a good prognosis for early-stage NSCLC and might be an alternative to lobectomy in this cohort. Until now, on the issue of comparison between lobectomy and segmentectomy, there remains no published randomized controlled trial (RCT), and all existing evidence is low. Recently, a categorization of lower-level evidence has been proposed, namely, the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. The aim of this meta-analysis is to compare the oncologic outcome between lobectomy and segmentectomy in NSCLC with the clinical T1N0M0 stage according to the GRADE system.MethodsPubMed, the PMC database, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library were searched prior to May 2019 to identify studies that compared the prognosis between lobectomy and segmentectomy for clinical T1N0M0 NSCLC. The evidence level of the included studies was assessed according to the GRADE system, including level IIA, probably not confounded nonrandomized comparison; level IIB, possibly confounded nonrandomized comparison; and level IIC, probably confounded nonrandomized comparison. The predefined outcomes included overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Univariable and multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were pooled using a random-effects model.ResultsTwelve nonrandomized studies involving 8,072 participants were included. Of these studies, two were classified as IIA level (16.7%), six as IIB level (50.0%), and four as IIC level (33.3%). When crude HRs were included, compared with lobectomy, segmentectomy was associated with shorter OS but comparable DFS in the entire cohort (OS, pooled HR =1.45, 95% CI, 1.23 to 1.67; DFS, pooled HR =1.03, 95% CI, 0.65 to 1.82) and in patients with nodules ?2 cm (OS, pooled HR =1.55, 95% CI, 1.33 to 1.80; DFS, pooled HR =0.98, 95% CI, 0.55 to 1.77). When adjusted HRs were included, the impact of segmentectomy on OS and DFS was comparable to that of lobectomy in the entire cohort (OS, pooled HR =1.39, 95% CI, 0.92 to 2.10; DFS, pooled HR =0.83, 95% CI, 0.66 to 1.03) and in patients with nodules ?2 cm (OS, pooled HR =1.61, 95% CI, 0.87 to 3.00; DFS, pooled HR =0.90, 95% CI, 0.63 to 1.27).ConclusionsBased on our results, although shorter OS is observed in patients received segmentectomy, it is necessary to wait for more results from RCT to draw a valid conclusion.