Background: Major pulmonary resection with systematic node dissection (SND) for early lung cancer by video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is performed in many institutes, but the feasibility of SND for early lung cancer by VATS remains controversial. The aim of this study was to elucidate the feasibility and safety of SND by VATS.
Methods: Three hundred fifty patients with clinical stage I lung cancer who underwent pulmonary major resection with SND between 1998 and 2003 were enrolled in this study. Of these patients, 191 (VATS group) underwent pulmonary resection with SND by VATS; 159 patients (open thoracotomy [OT] group) did so through anterolateral thoracotomy. The clinical and pathologic data, including the number of dissected nodes in each nodal station, of the 2 groups were compared to evaluate the feasibility of SND by VATS.
Results: Pathologic data showed that, in the VATS group, more patients had adenocarcinoma (P = .0078) and fewer patients had advanced factors than the OT group. The greatest tumor diameter was 24.5 mm and 29.6 mm in the VATS group and OT group, respectively (P < .0001). The total number of mediastinal nodes dissected in right upper lobectomy plus right middle lobectomy (RUL+RML), right lower lobectomy (RLL), left upper lobectomy (LUL), and lower left lobectomy (LLL) also did not differ between the 2 groups. The total number of mediastinal nodes dissected in RUL+RML, RLL, LUL, and LLL was 19.7 in the VATS group versus 22.0 in the OT group (P = .122), 23.4 versus 21.0 (P = .241), 14.8 versus 17.5 (P = .123), and 18.8 versus 15.8 (P = .202), respectively. The number of dissected nodes in each nodal station in RUL+RML, RLL, LUL, and LLL was similar between the 2 groups. Operative mortality, morbidity, or recurrence did not differ between the 2 groups.
Conclusions: With regard to the number of dissected nodes, SND by VATS was not inferior to that of OT. SND by VATS is technically feasible and safe, and seems acceptable for clinical stage I lung cancer.