[Surgical resection for T4 lung cancer invading thoracic aorta]

The prognosis of the lung cancer patients with aortic invasion is thought to be very poor in general. Thoracic aorta resection and reconstruction was performed in 6 patients, aortic arch in 2, descending aorta in 4. An intraoperative and a postoperative major complication occurred in each 1 patient. Five patients survived more than 1 year after operation, and 1 of them has been living without relapse for more than 5 years. Pulmonary resection with the involved aorta can be done safely using cardiopulmonary bypass, with encouraging long-term survivals in patients without N2 or N3 nodal metastasis.