Lung Cancer Surgery for Patients on Hemodialysis: A Decade of Experience at Multicenter Institutions.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The clinical outcome of patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) has not yet been clarified in lung cancer surgery. The aims of this study were to assess the clinical features, outcomes, and main cause of death after lung cancer surgery in patients undergoing HD and to evaluate the risk factors for postoperative complications. METHODS: The study identified 39 patients undergoing HD who had lung cancer surgery in 9 institutions under the Thoracic Surgery Study Group of Osaka University in Japan between 2007 and 2016. Study investigators retrospectively analyzed the surgical outcomes of these patients. RESULTS: Most patients were male and were smokers. Diabetes mellitus was the most common cause of primary renal disease. Lobectomy with systemic lymph node dissection was performed in 16 patients, and an extended operation was performed in 6 patients. Most patients had a diagnosis of pathologic stage IA (69.2%) lung cancer. The overall complication and mortality rates were 30.8% and 7.7%, respectively. Pneumonia was the most frequently observed complication. Extended operation was significantly associated with complications (P = .04). The 5-year overall survival rate was 57.9%, and the most common cause of death was not primary lung cancer but was a disease related to HD. CONCLUSIONS: Lung cancer surgery for patients undergoing HD provides favorable long-term outcomes despite higher postoperative mortality and morbidity rates. Because an extended operation is significantly associated with postoperative complications, thoracic surgeons should carefully select the type of resection on the basis of a balance between therapeutic benefit and invasiveness in these patients.