Summary of Key Points Up to 25% of patients with stage I nonsmall cell lung cancer are considered medically inoperable or high risk for surgery. Therapies such as stereotactic body radiation therapy or ablation offer a less invasive alternative to…
Summary of Key Points Multiple primary lung cancers (MPLCs) are increasing in incidence as imaging accuracies improve and resections are better tolerated. Differentiating MPLCs from intrathoracic metastatic disease is challenging and based primarily on clinical judgment. Molecular analysis for tumor…
Summary of Key Points Bronchovascular sleeve resection is an essential technique for general thoracic surgeons to preserve as much as possible the patient’s lung function and quality of life after pulmonary resection. Previous reports suggested that the incidence rates of…
Summary of Key Points Chest Wall: Invasion of parietal pleura and chest wall indicates T3; involvement of vertebral body indicates T4 chest wall tumor. Extensive resection required. Long-term survival possible postresection if: No distant metastases No mediastinal lymph node involvement…
Summary of Key Points With the realization that many more lung cancers are being detected, which may not only be indolent but also smaller than 2 cm, thoracic surgeons are considering sublobar resections in their practice. There are conflicting data…
Summary of Key Points Robotic surgery can be used for completely portal (no utility incision) or robotic-assisted (uses utility incision) techniques. Appropriate patient and port positioning are critical for a successful performance of robotic lobectomy. Perioperative morbidity and mortality for…
Summary of Key Points Many meta-analyses, outcomes and matched cohort studies demonstrate equal long-term outcomes for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and open lobectomy. Matched comparisons generally demonstrate equal long-term survival for VATS versus open lobectomy for lung cancer, suggesting that…
Summary of Key Points Predicted postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 second (ppoFEV 1 ) has been shown to be inaccurate in predicting actual postoperative FEV 1 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It should not be used…
Summary of Key Points Size counts: From less than or equal to 1-cm to less than or equal to 5-cm tumor size, every centimeter has prognostic impact and separates into different T categories, and tumors greater than 5 cm but…
Summary of Key Points Staging of the mediastinum is a key component in the evaluation of patients with lung cancer and includes both preoperative and intraoperative components. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer lymph node map provides…