Cases of residual tumor at the surgical margin after resection of lung cancer

Sixty-one cases of primary lung cancer with residual cancer at the surgical margin were studied. The tumor remained at the bronchial stump in 27 cases, in the pleura in 18 cases, in the pulmonary artery or vein in 7 cases, the chest wall in 5 cases, adjacent organs in 5 cases and in the lung in 3 cases. The median survival time (MST) of the surgical margin-positive cases was 17 months and the 5-year survival rate was 24.1%. On the other hand, the MST of surgical margin-negative cases in the same period was 62 months and the 5-year survival rate was 50.7%. The poorer prognosis of the surgical margin-positive cases was statistically significant and this factor was related to the poor prognosis of stage I and II SMP cases. In stage IIIA and stage IIIB cases, the MST of the radiotherapy group was shorter than that of the non-radiotherapy group. The difference concerning prognosis between the bronchial margin-positive cases and other positive cases was not significant. Long survival cases consisted of squamous cell carcinomas with negative lymph nodes in which the residual sites were the bronchial mucosa or parietal pleura. Radiotherapy appeared useful for these cases.