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A proposal of postoperative follow-up pathways for lung cancer

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Abstract

Objectives

Although follow-up surveillance after resection for lung cancer is commonly performed in clinical practice, there is no standard follow-up program. We attempted to establish follow-up examination schedules that we considered would be acceptable to the majority of doctors, and would like to propose them as standard postoperative follow-up pathways.

Methods

We carried out a retrospective analysis of patients’ data and reviewed the time of detection of recurrence and the site of recurrence after resection. Published papers were also reviewed. The postoperative follow-up pathways were established based on these data.

Proposed follow-up pathway

The follow-up period was set at as 5 years after resection, and physical examinations, chest radiography, chest CT and blood examination are recommended. Two follow-up pathways were proposed taking the risk of recurrence into consideration: the Risk of recurrence-based pathway and the Comprehensive pathway. In the Risk of recurrence-based pathway, the follow-up examination schedule is modified according to the risk of recurrence. In the Comprehensive pathway, a single universal examination schedule is recommended for all patients. The choice between these two pathways is left to the discretion of the attending doctor.

Conclusions

We proposed two follow-up pathways, based on retrospective analysis of patients’ data and a review of published papers, which we considered would be acceptable to the majority of doctors and would be suited to the current medical environment in Japan. A prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of the follow-up pathways is ongoing.

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Conflict of interest

None of the authors has any financial or other potential conflicts of interests to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Shikoku Cancer Center, 160 Kou, Minamiumemoto-chou, Matsuyama, Ehime, 791-0280, Japan

    Shigeki Sawada & Motohiro Yamashita

  2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, Yamagata, Japan

    Satoshi Shiono

  3. Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Kure Medical Center, Chugoku Cancer Center, Hiroshima, Japan

    Yoshinori Yamashita & Hiroaki Harada

  4. Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Nagasaki Medical Center, Nagasaki, Japan

    Tsutomu Tagawa

  5. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

    Hiroyuki Ito

  6. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan

    Toshihiko Sato

Authors
  1. Shigeki Sawada
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  2. Satoshi Shiono
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  3. Yoshinori Yamashita
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  8. Motohiro Yamashita
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Correspondence to Shigeki Sawada.

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Sawada, S., Shiono, S., Yamashita, Y. et al. A proposal of postoperative follow-up pathways for lung cancer. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 63, 231–238 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-014-0506-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-014-0506-7

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