Lung cancer patients whose treatment plans include a follow-up computer tomography (CT) chest scan after undergoing surgical resection may have higher subsequent survival rates than those whose plans lack post-operative CT imaging, according to a new study presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress (September 26-30, 2015; Amsterdam, Netherlands).
Although it was already known that follow-up CT after lung cancer surgery helps to detect lung cancer recurrence, the study is the first to demonstrate a correlation between follow-up CT scans and improved overall survival. When cancer does recur after surgery, it typically does so in the first 1–3 years. CT scans of the chest also image the adrenal glands, liver, and lungs—organs in which cancer recurrence is most likely to occur.
Presenter Niels-Christian Gerner Hansen, MD, a pulmonologist at Odense University Hospital in Denmark, and his colleagues followed 319 patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer between 2008 and 2013 and underwent curative-intent surgery. Participants in the study received CT scans of the thorax every 3 months for 2 years and then every 6 months for 3 years afterward.
At the study’s end, researchers found that patients who received post-surgery CT scans had improved 4-year survival rates (67.8% vs. 55.7%). After further statistical analysis, the researchers also concluded that patients treated without post-surgery CT scans faced a increased risk of recurrent tumor growth compared to those treated with follow-up scans. However, the authors noted that, because of the study’s single-center, retrospective design, the influence of unmeasured confounders could not be ruled out.
Dr. Hansen and his team have since announced plans for similar studies, particularly in patients treated with radiation as opposed to surgery.
