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Updated: Jun 5, 2026
Thoracoscopic Extended Right Middle Plus Lower Sleeve Lobectomy for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Published on: February 27, 2026
Thoracoscopic lobectomy is associated with superior compliance with adjuvant chemotherapy in lung cancer
Jin Gu Lee1, Byoung Chul Cho, Mi Kyung Bae
1Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Background:
Although the survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy for nonsmall-cell lung cancer has been proved, 50% to 86% of patients received all planned cycles of chemotherapy. A thoracoscopic procedure may enable more effective administration of adjuvant chemotherapy than a thoracotomy. However, a well-balanced comparison is lacking.
Methods:
Patients who underwent pulmonary resection and received platinum-based double adjuvant chemotherapy for nonsmall-cell lung cancer were identified from a prospective database. A propensity score-matched analysis was performed to obtain a well-balanced comparison between thoracoscopy and thoracotomy to determine compliance of adjuvant chemotherapy.
Results:
Seventy-four patients (group A) with thoracoscopy and 278 patients with thoracotomy received adjuvant chemotherapy. Through 1:1 matching, 74 patients (group B) were selected from the thoracotomy group. A higher percentage of group A received four cycles of the planned adjuvant chemotherapy (95.9% versus 82.4%, p = 0.015). There was a trend toward better compliance in group A with four cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy without reduced dose (83.8% versus 73.0%, p = 0.162), and four cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy without delayed or reduced dose (70.3% versus 62.2%, p = 0.385).
Conclusions:
Thoracoscopy showed better compliance with adjuvant chemotherapy after pulmonary resection for nonsmall-cell lung cancer.
