The study investigated whether wedge resection plus adequate lymph nodes resection conferred comparable survival to lobectomy for node-negative non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ≤2 cm.
The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was used to identify patients diagnosed with node-negative NSCLC ≤2 cm and underwent wedge resection or lobectomy (2004-2015). Patients were stratified by the procedure (wedge resection, lobectomy) and the size of NSCLC (≤1 cm, 1-2 cm). We assessed survival between patients undergoing wedge resection and lobectomy. The optimal number of lymph nodes resected which made those two procedures comparable was explored by using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis. Propensity score matching was performed to minimize the effect of confounding factors.
7893 patients with lobectomy and 2536 patients with wedge resection were identified. Wedge resection was associated with worse survival either in the ≤1 cm or 1-2 cm NSCLC before and after matching. For lesions 1-2 cm and receiving lobectomy, more lymph nodes resected conferred statistically significant increase on survival and six nodes were optimal. For lesions ≤1 cm and receiving lobectomy, lymph nodes resection had no impact on survival. Wedge resection and lobectomy were comparable when one or more nodes for lesions ≤1 cm and six or more nodes for lesions 1-2 cm were resected.
Wedge resection was inferior to lobectomy for NSCLC ≤1 cm and 1-2 cm. Wedge resection plus adequate lymph nodes resection was comparable to lobectomy.