Lung Cancer Surgery in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Surgical Selection Challenges and Clinical Outcomes

Abstract

© 2019 Bentham Science Publishers. Health care systems worldwide are commonly burdened with COPD and lung cancer and subsequently much has been studied and learnt of the interdependence between these two clinical entities. Lung cancer surgical treatment options in patients with severe COPD remain a clinical challenge for the multidisciplinary team. Appropriate patient selection and prediction of postoperative pulmonary complications aid in surgical decision making and informed patient consent. In this review, we present an overview of surgical selection tools (lung function parameters, risk stratification for postoperative pulmonary complications) and lung cancer clinical outcomes (recurrence, survival) in patients with COPD undergoing lung cancer surgery.