Purpose: We evaluated the clinical findings of patients with second primary digestive cancers (SPDC) after the resection of lung cancer.
Methods: Among 772 patients who underwent resection of primary lung cancer at Saitama Cardiovascular and Respiratory Center between 1993 and 2002, 10 (1.3%) were diagnosed with SPDC during follow-up. These ten patients were classified into two groups based on whether the SPDC was incidentally (group I) or symptomatically (group S) diagnosed.
Results: The median interval to the detection of SPDC was 17 months in group I and 66 months in group S, and the disease was at an earlier stage in group I than in group S ( P = 0.008). Comparing body weight at the time of lung resection to that at the time of abdominal surgery, significant weight loss was evident in group S ( P = 0.009). The postoperative disease-specific survival rate was 100% in group I. No long-term survivor died of lung cancer.
Conclusion: Special attention must be paid to the possibility of SPDC after the resection of lung cancer to improve the prognosis of patients with lung cancer.