Challenges in Predicting Recurrence After Resection of Node-Negative Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Thornblade and colleagues endeavored to develop and validate a model that would predict the 2-year risk of recurrence in patients with completely resected node-negative non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Improved recurrence prediction could direct selective use of adjuvant therapy and surveillance imaging in these patients. The authors’ models performed similar to chance, despite using clinical risk factors for recurrence and biomarkers associated with poor survival. They discuss potential reasons for the difficulty in predicting recurrence in this patient group.