Abstract

Surgical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer with pathologic N2 disease still remains controversial. The prog - nostic factors and results of surgical treatment are investigated in 51 patients with pathologic N2 among 385 lung cancer patients who had underwent total resection for lung cancer between 1990 and 1999 at ‹stanbul Medical Faculty. Two patients excluded from the study because they died within 30 days postoperatively, among 49 rema - ining patients 41 were T2N2M0, 6 were T3N2M0 and 2 were T1N2M0. The histologic cell types in these 49 patients were squamous cell carcinoma in 30, adenocarcinoma in 16 and other types in three. Pneumonectomy, lobectomy and bilobectomy were performed in 26, 19 and four patients respectively. The cumulative 5 year sur - vival in 49 patients was 22.18±0.69%. There was no difference in survival between patients with squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The cumulative 5-year survival was 35.5% in 23 patients with single level N2, in contrast this was zero in patients with multipl level N2 and 3-year survival rate in these patients was 14%. The cumulative 5-year survival in patients without extracapsular spread in N2 was 38%, in contrast this was 8.5% in patients with extracapsular spread in N2. In conclusion, in non-small cell lung cancer patients with pathologic N2 disease, multiple level lymph node involvement and extracapsular spread apear to be unfavorable prognostic fac - tors