Surgery of primary lung carcinoid tumors at metastatic stage: A national study from the French Group of Endocrine Tumors (GTE) and ENDOCAN‐RENATEN network

Abstract

AbstractThe outcome following surgery for patients with primary lung neuroendocrine tumors at metastatic stage remains poorly characterized. We conducted a retrospective national study including patients with metastatic lung neuroendocrine tumors at diagnosis. We performed a safety study to evaluate major morbidity and mortality of surgical resection of the primary tumor and compared patients in the operative to the nonoperative group. A total of 155 patients were included: 41 in the operative group and 114 in the nonoperative group, median age was 64 years. Metastases were mainly located in the liver (74.2%) and the bone (49.7%). The primary endpoint was met as the rate of major complications was 4.9% and there was no postoperative mortality. In the operative group 42.5% of patients had improvement of their pulmonary symptoms versus 14.4% in the nonoperative group. The median overall survival was not reached in the operative group and was 4.3 years (95% CI [3.5;4.9]) in the nonoperative group (univariate analysis, HR = 0.42 95% CI [0.23–0.77], p = .002). After multivariate analysis, only an ECOG‐PS ≥1 (vs. 0, HR = 2.44, 95% CI [1.46;4.07], p = .001) and >1 metastatic site (vs. 1; HR = 1.83, 95% CI [1.06;3.16], p = .030) remained significantly associated with overall survival. The resection of the primary tumor was not significantly associated with overall survival (HR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.32;1.24], p = .183). In conclusion, surgery of primary lung neuroendocrine tumors at metastatic stage is a safe option that should be considered in selected patients in order to improve symptoms with a view to improving their quality of life. Larger studies are warranted to evaluate the impact of surgery on survival.