A great success the IV Mediterranean symposium in Thoracic Oncologic surgery. One hundred and eighty participants including thoracic and general surgeons, oncologists, and medical students attended the symposium.
The symposium was organized to pose the basis for new research studies in advanced lung and esophageal cancer. The Rector of the University Prof Francesco Basile pointed out that the symposium is becoming a fixed international scientific appointment of the surgical thoracic community. It was noted that many research and thoracic publications which were done in Sicily in the 50ies and 60ies were only published locally or in Italy, meaning that many of these very good publications remain unknown internationally.
From the general discussion it was noted that it is necessary to prolong survival in patients with advanced stage lung cancer to obtain a global better survival in patients with lung cancer; unfortunately still today 60-70 % of patients arrive to us with a “non surgical” cancer. Although surgery has been always not considered for stage IV lung cancer, recently, new hope is emerging.
Initially the precious value of radiology and the recent emerging role of immunology confirmed the necessity of a multidisciplinary team to treat this group of patients. New technologies such as HITHOC, the same technique which has been used for mesothelioma, could help to prolong survival in a multimodality therapy in patients with stage IV lung cancer. A recent study involving 33 patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma with pleural dissemination that a 6-month, 1-year and 3-year progression-free survival rates for the HITHOC group were 87.0%, 47.8% and 24.3%, while those of surgery group were 44.4%, 33.3% and 0.0%, respectively (1,2) Nevertheless, as for mesothelioma (3) it is imperative not to give false hope, but a “real” hope is mandatory only within a well design study. Surgery for N2 disease remains at the moment under investigation as there are conflictual data, but a single N2 not bulky metastasis could be an indication for surgery without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Surgery for oligometastasis is feasible but a multidisciplinary decision is necessary, and this is essential when complex surgeries for locally advanced lung cancer is planned; long term survival depend from a well posed surgical indications, and it should not based on personal opinion (4). Advantages of the precision technique has been carefully presented by Michael Mueller from Vienna and Pierluigi Granone from Rome.
Prof Antoon Lerut from Leuven presented the tremendous experience with 3000 esophagectomies with the main conclusion that this complex surgery must be done in centralized centers where experience is present. Although minimally invasive and robotic surgery techniques are feasible by expert hands in some patients with advanced lung cancer, it is evident that randomized trials are necessary before their wider use in clinical practice. Semih Halezeroglu from Istambul presented his experience with uniportal VATS pneumonectomy, and commented that many patients with advanced lung cancer who undergo extended operation do not survive as expected, and therefore some indications should be at least revised to avoid usefulness operations. Finally, the personal feeling is that “individualized” surgery, which seems to be more human to me, for advanced lung and esophageal cancer could become more common in the next years.
References
-
Yi E, Kim D, Cho S, Kim K, Jheon S. Clinical outcomes of cytoreductive surgery combined with intrapleural perfusion of hyperthermic chemotherapy in advanced lung adenocarcinoma with pleural dissemination. Journal of Thoracic Disease. 2016;8(7):1550-1560. doi:10.21037/jtd.2016.06.04.
-
Migliore M, Calvo D, Criscione A, et al. Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intrapleural chemotherapy for malignant pleural diseases: preliminary experience. Future Oncol 2015;11:47-52. 10.2217/fon.14.256
-
Maat APWN et al. Is the patient with mesothelioma without hope? Future Oncology 2015; 11(24s):11-14. November 2015
-
Treasure T, Utley M, Ian Hunt I. When professional opinion is not enough. BMJ: British Medical Journal 2007; 334.7598: 831.
Thoracic Surgery 