Current readings: sublobar resection for non-small-cell lung cancer

The Lung Cancer Study Group consensus recommending lobectomy for stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to reduce local recurrence associated with sublobar resections has directed NSCLC care since its 1995 publication. However, enhancements in imaging technology and in our understanding of the molecular biology of NSCLC over the past 2 decades have produced large cohorts of patients with smaller, better staged, and more indolent tumors than evaluated by the Lung Cancer Study Group. Numerous single-institution trials have demonstrated that in well-selected patients, sublobar resection can afford comparable survival and recurrence rates with lobectomy with a more favorable risk profile. This review of recent literature will focus on 2 separate issues with regard to the use of sublobar resections for stage I NSCLC: (1) a comparison to nonoperative ablative therapies in medically unfit patients, and (2) identifying in which subset of the noncompromised standard-risk population, sublobar resections provide equivalent outcome to lobectomy.