Bronchial stump recurrence after surgery for bronchial carcinoma.

In 10 out of 295 patients (3.4%), followed-up after radical resection for non-small cell bronchial carcinoma in the period from 1980 until 1986, bronchial stump recurrence developed. A good relationship was found between relapse time (4-52 months) and distance between the primary tumour and bronchial resection line (1-7 cm) (i.e. 5-8 months.cm-1) in 8 of the patients (p less than 0.01). The mean survival time after detection of the recurrence was 10 months (range 1-15 months), and was not clearly influenced by the therapy applied (resurgery, chemotherapy, radiation), nor by the TNM stage of the bronchial stump recurrence.