Surgery for nonsmall cell lung cancer

Surgery remains the best curative option in patients with early stage lung cancer (stage I and II). Developments in minimally invasive techniques now allow surgeons to perform lung resections on elderly patients, patients with poor pulmonary function or significant cardiopulmonary comorbidities. New techniques, such as stereotactic radiotherapy and ablative procedures, are being evaluated in early-stage lung cancer and may represent an alternative to surgery in patients unfit for lung resection. Perioperative mortality rates have dropped significantly at most institutions in the past two decades and complications are managed more efficiently. Progress in imaging and staging techniques have helped cut futile thoracotomy rates and offer patients the most adequate treatment options. Large randomised trials have helped clarify the role of neoadjuvant, induction and adjuvant chemotherapy, as well as radiotherapy. Surgery remains an essential step in the multimodality therapy of selected patients with advanced-stage lung cancer (stage III and IV). Interventional and endoscopic techniques have reduced the role of surgery in the diagnosis and staging of nonsmall cell lung cancer, but surgery remains an important tool in the palliation of advanced-stage lung cancer. Large national/international surgical databases have been developed and predictive risk-models for surgical mortality/morbidity published by learned surgical societies. Nonetheless, lung cancer overall survival rates remain deceptively low and it is hoped that early detection/screening, better understanding of tumour biology and development of biomarkers, and development of efficient targeted therapies will help improve the prognosis of lung cancer patients in the next decade.