Chest wall/parietal pleural invasions worsen prognosis in T4 non-small cell lung cancer patients after resection

Objectives: Appropriate selection for surgery is particularly important in T4 non-small cell lung cancer patients. In clinical settings, patients those who are positive for T4 criteria occasionally are also positive for T3 factors which are independently defined from original T4 or even have multiple T4 factors. Significance of these factors on prognosis is still unknown. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinicopathorogical data of 113 patients with T4 non-small cell lung cancer those who underwent surgery between 1990 and 2015 in Tohoku University Hospital. Significance on prognosis of single or multiple T4 factors and with or without independent T3 factors were statistically analyzed. Results: No significant difference was seen in the 5-year survival rate between patients with single (35.6%) and multiple (31.4%) T4 factors (P = 0.94), but the rate was significantly lower when patients also had independent T3 factors (19.6%) compared with when they did not (42.5%) (P = 0.011). The 5-year survival rate was particularly lower among patients with invasion of the chest wall or parietal pleura (8.1%) than in those without (40.6%) (P = 0.0052). Conclusions: Invasion of the chest wall or parietal pleura is poor prognostic factors in T4 non-small cell lung cancer patients.