The high relapse rate after curative surgery of lung cancer suggests that tumor cells are remained at the site of resection and in the distant organs. Postoperative radiochemoimmunotherapy including protein-bound polysaccharide PS-K(Copolang)
and/or
chemotherapy to improve the prognosis in lung cancer has been adopted. The patients with lung cancer who were treated with a combined modality therapy after surgery were reviewed to determine the effects of adjuvant immunotherapy(PS-K) and the
relationship between midterm survival and clinicopathologic variables.
During the past 5 years, 95 patients with lung cancer underwent resective operation. Of them, 30 cases were curative combination therapies consisted of three types of therapies: postoperative BRM(biological response modifiers) with PS-K(Copolang)
50mg/kg for 24 weeks(Group 1), chemoimmunotherapy with chemotherapy with postoperative prophylactic irradiation to the mediastinum at a total dose of 54 Gy-60 Gy and PS-K(Group 3)and surgery without adjuvant therapy(Group 4).
Twenty months survival rates of localized disease (Stages I and II) treated with PS-K, with radioimmunotherapy and no therapy were 73%, 60%, and 50%, respectively(P<0.05). Three-year survival rates of regionally advanced cases(stage IIIa and
IIIb)
were
23% in Group 1.57% in Group 2.20% in Group 3, and 0% in Group 4, respectively.
According to above results, we suggest that postoperative combination therapy including PS-K might improve the prognosis of lung cancer. The similar survival pattern of patients wit squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma treated with BRM,
chemoimmunotherapy or radioimmunotherapy need to evaluate the role of postoperative immunotherapy(PS-K) in randomized studies. (Korean J Thoracic Cardiovas Surg 1994; 27:47-53)
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