Treatment patterns and survival of patients with locoregional recurrence in early-stage NSCLC: a literature review of real-world evidence

Approximately 10–50% of patients treated for early-stage (I–III), resectable non-small cell lung cancer (eNSCLC) will develop locoregional recurrence. There is a lack of prospective trials evaluating optimal post-surgery follow-up for this patient population, and treatment guidelines recommend salvage therapies such as surgery, local ablative therapy, and (chemo)radiotherapy. A literature review was conducted according to pre-defined criteria to identify observational studies describing treatment patterns and survival outcomes in patients with eNSCLC who experienced locoregional recurrence. Results showed that, in real-world clinical practice, around 80% of patients with locoregional recurrence underwent any form of active treatment. The most frequently administered treatments were chemotherapy (35.7%), chemoradiotherapy (31.2%), radiotherapy (20.3%), and surgery alone (12.8%). Chemoradiotherapy was associated with improved PFS and OS compared with radiotherapy, while no statistically significant survival benefits were observed for patients receiving surgery in addition to these treatments. The overall survival of patients following treatment for locoregional recurrence was generally poor, and the proportion of patients who experienced any form of post-treatment re-recurrence ranged from 35 to 72%. These findings highlight the need to develop more effective treatment strategies for locoregional recurrence, including preventative treatments, and strategies to improve the survival outcomes of those who do develop locoregional recurrence.