A rare subset of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients have lung-only metastatic disease despite multiple lines of treatment.In this prospective study, estimated survival at 1 year was longer for lung-limited stage IV NSCLC patients who underwent lung transplant compared with those treated with medical management alone (100% vs 41%).Survival in the transplant group was also similar to a cohort of non-cancer patients who underwent lung transplantation for end-stage pulmonary disease (88%).
Lung transplant for selected metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients was associated with better early survival outcomes in a prospective, single-center study.
Among 98 patients with lung-only involvement despite having medically refractory stage IV NSCLC, the estimated 1-year overall survival rates were 100% for the transplant recipients and 40.8% for the remaining patients treated with medical management alone.
The longer survival in the transplant group was observed "despite more severe respiratory failure and worse functional status at baseline," reported researchers led by Ankit Bharat, MD, of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
At 1 year, 92.3% versus 5.6% of the two groups were alive and free of recurrence or progression, and the 1-year survival rate among the transplant recipients was similar to a group of patients without cancer who underwent lung transplantation for end-stage pulmonary disease (88.1%), according to the study in JAMA.
