Long-term survival outcomes after lobe-specific nodal dissection in patients with early non-small-cell lung cancer

We investigated the long-term outcomes of lobe-specific nodal dissection (LSD) and systematic nodal dissection (SND) in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with c-stage I and II NSCLC who underwent lobectomy with mediastinal nodal dissection were retrospectively analysed. After propensity score matching, we assessed the overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cumulative incidence of death (CID) from primary lung cancer and other diseases. The median follow-up period was 8.4 years. Among 438 propensity score-matched pairs, OS and RFS were similar between the LSD and SND groups [hazard ratio (HR), 0.979; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.799-1.199; and HR, 0.912; 95% CI, 0.762-1.092, respectively], but the LSD group showed a better prognosis after 5 years postoperatively. CID from primary lung cancer was similar between the 2 groups (HR, 1.239; 95% CI, 0.940-1.633). However, the CID from other diseases was lower in the LSD group than in the SND group (HR, 0.702; 95% CI, 0.525-0.938). According to c-stage, the LSD group tended towards worse OS and RFS, with higher CID from primary lung cancer than the SND group, in patients with c-stage II. LSD provides acceptable long-term survival for patients with early-stage NSCLC. However, LSD may not be suitable for patients with c-stage II NSCLC due to the higher mortality risk from primary lung cancer.