Objectives: In 2012, the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) created the Lung Neuroendocrine Tumors Working Group (NETs-WG) with the aim to develop scientific knowledge on clinical management of such rare neoplasms. This paper outlines the outcome and prognostic factors of two aggressive NETs: atypical carcinoids (ACs) and large-cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNCs).
Methods: Using the ESTS NETs-WG database, we retrospectively collected data on 261 patients in seven institutions in Europe, between 1994 and 2011. We used a Cox regression model to evaluate variables affecting patient survival and disease-free survival. Univariate and multivariate analysis were also carried out.
Results: Five-year overall survival rates for ACs and LCNCs were 77 vs 28% (P < 0.001), respectively. We found that for ACs, age (P < 0.001), tumour size (P = 0.015) and sub-lobar surgical resection (P = 0.005) were independent negative prognostic factors; for LCNCs, only pTNM stage III tumours (P = 0.016) negatively affected outcome in the multivariate analysis. Local recurrences and distant metastases developed in 93 patients and were statistically more frequent in LCNCs (P = 0.02).
Conclusions: The biological aggressiveness of ACs and LCNCs has been demonstrated with this study. Our aim is to confirm these results with enhanced data collection through the ESTS NETs database.
Keywords: Atypical carcinoid; Large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma; Lung; Metastasis; Neuroendocrine tumour; Recurrence; Surgery; Survival.
© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.