[Mediastinoscopy and thoracotomy in bronchogenic carcinoma (V) (author's transl)]

The opinion of the Bronchogenic Carcinoma Cooperative Group is that mediastinoscopy is at present an irreplaceable method for the determination of the resection limits in patients with bronchogenic carcinoma. Mediastinoscopy cannot be replaced by roentgenologic or isotopic studies of the mediastinum, since the invasion of the ganglionar capsule or of the mediastinal fat can only be determined by histopathologic examination. Following a classification based on macro- and microscopic morphological criteria, surgery has achieved a 64 percent of thoracotomies with "presumably curative" resections. Patients with epidermoid carcinomas were the main candidates to surgery. Lastly the role of the so-called bronchogenic carcinoma "markers" or substances that can indirectly indicate the course of the disease is discussed. The value of humoral and cell-mediated immunologic studies for introducing other therapeutic variants after curative surgery is pointed out. The definite conclusions regarding the clinical and surgical therapeutic aspects of the Bronchogenic Carcinoma Cooperative Group are detailed.