1998 Volume 38 Issue 1 Pages 49-55
N3 disease in lung cancer is usually unresectable, and prognosis is extremely poor. Five clinical N3 cases with good performance status were treated by extended lymphadenectomy and pre-or-post surgical adjuvant therapy in our hospital from January, 1994 to March, 1996. Induction chemotherapy was performed for three cases, and extended bilateral mediastinal dissection up to the neck was applied in all cases. Post -surgical local chemo -and/or -immunotherapy was added in foiir cases. Two patients are still alive and tumor-free 22 months after the initiation of treatment. Three patients died because of distant metastases 34, 19, and 18 months after the therapy. In conclusion, bilateral extended lymphadenectomy combined with pre-and/or post surgical adjuvant therapy may be beneficial for patients with N3 disease and contribute to improved better prognosis.
