[Prospects for the development of contemporary thoracic surgery]

The world today is undergoing revolutionary changes in science, technology, and industry. These changes have optimized the surgical procedure for lung cancer treatment into a more minimally invasive, precise, comprehensive, industrialized, and patient-centered manner. The definition of minimally invasive treatment for lung cancer has been expanded from simply reducing the size of the skin incision to reserve the lung function. The principle of precision surgery is emphasized throughout the whole process of patient management including diagnosis and treatment. Multimodality therapy helps narrow the gaps between different disciplines and thus provides more personalized treatment for lung cancer patients. Integration of industrial techniques such as visualization, surgical robot, and artificial intelligence into medical practice will potentially lead to a revolution in thoracic surgical procedure. Today, thoracic surgeons are responsible for establishing a self-reliant surgical practice for Chinese patients with lung cancer. It is necessary to attach great importance to patient-centered care, move forward to review minimally invasive surgical procedure, and foster better practice for lung cancer management by keeping up with cutting-edge research on science and technology in the context of changes and challenges.