Survival rates of patients with tumors originating in different segments of the left upper lung in stage I to III non-small cell lung cancer

Background: The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of spatial location of tumors on the prognosis of patients with left upper lung non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with a focus on the S1+2+3 and lingual segment. Methods: A total of 486 patients who underwent lobectomy and systematic lymph node dissection were collected retrospectively in this study (354 S1+2+3 and 132 lingual segment patients). Factors impacting survival were assessed via univariate analyses, multivariate analyses, and log-rank tests. Results: Compared with tumor location in S1+2+3, lingual segment tumor location of stage II to III left upper lung NSCLC patients was significantly associated with a better 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) (P=0.041). Multivariate analysis results showed that tumor location in the lingual segment was a good independent prognostic factor of stage II to III left upper lung NSCLC patients [hazard ratio (HR) =0.602, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.149-0.865, P=0.006). However, in stage I left upper lung NSCLC, tumor location (HR =1.069, 95% CI: 0.571-2.000, P=0.835) was not an independent prognostic factor, and only T2 (HR =2.422, 95% CI: 1.271-4.620, P=0.007) was an independent worse prognosis factor. Conclusions: Tumor location in the lingual segment of left upper lung stage II to stage III NSCLC is a good independent prognostic factor compared with S1+2+3. Nevertheless, tumor location does not impact the prognosis of patients with stage I NSCLC in the left upper lung.