Sequence of biologic therapies and surgery affects survival in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Biologic therapy is changing the landscape of lung cancer treatment. The objectives of this study were to compare overall survival (OS) between patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing neoadjuvant and adjuvant biologic therapy in combination with surgery and to evaluate the impact of chemotherapy on survival after combination biologic therapy and surgery. METHODS: The National Cancer Database was queried for cases of NSCLC from 2004 to 2016. Patient treatment was categorized into neoadjuvant and adjuvant biologic therapy in combination with surgery. Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to compare OS between treatment groups and between those who did and did not also undergo chemotherapy. Cox regression was used to identify factors predictive of OS. RESULTS: Six hundred seventy-three patients underwent both biologic therapy and surgery. The unadjusted overall 5-year OS was longer for patients undergoing neoadjuvant biologic therapy than for those undergoing adjuvant biologic therapy (P = .006), with OS being 56.2% and 33.0%, respectively. When comparing OS between those who did and did not undergo additional chemotherapy, no difference was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant biologic therapy was associated with longer OS than adjuvant biologic therapy. Chemotherapy did not have an effect on OS when combined with biologic therapy and surgery.

Effect of pre-transplantation prednisone on survival after lung transplantation.

BACKGROUND: It is routine practice to discontinue corticosteroids or at least reduce the dose to or=0.42 mg/kg/m(2) per day). The LD Group also included 75 patients never prescribed steroids before lung transplantation (n = 139). RESULTS: A comparison of survival rates between LD and HD Cohorts showed better survival in the LD group, p value by log rank for LD vs HD <0.01. Other than having more emphysema patients (53/139, 40%) and fewer idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients (21/139, 16%) in the LD group (p < 0.01), pre-transplantation characteristics between the 2 cohorts were similar. In addition, the LD Group had more bilateral lung recipients (p < 0.01). During the first 100 days after transplantation, 20 HD (20/62) patients and 16 LD (16/139) died (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Survival in the LD Cohort was strikingly better than for patients receiving >or=0.42 mg/kg/m(2) per day. Deaths in the early post-operative period for the HD Group may be related to steroid-induced complications such as poor wound healing and serious infections. A pre-lung transplantation steroid dose adjusted for body mass index of >or=0.42 mg/kg/m(2) per day may be associated with increased complications and worse survival after lung transplantation. Further studies are warranted to confirm these results.