Lobe-specific lymph node dissection in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer: An overview

Lymph node dissection is a vital part of surgical treatment for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Lobectomy with systematic lymph node dissection (SLND) still remains the gold standard surgical treatment for early-stage NSCLC patients. However, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that lobe-specific lymph node dissection (L-SLND) can be used as an alternative therapy for SLND in carefully selected patients with early-stage NSCLC. However, there are no currently available evidences of review summarizing the role of L-SLDN in treating early-stage NSCLC. Therefore, we performed this literature review by summarizing the existing literatures on the lymph node drainage pattern, definition, scope and role of L-SLND in patients with early-stage NSCLC, aiming to provide evidence for the application of L-SLND in patients with early-stage NSCLC.