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Video-assisted thoracic surgery for lung cancer

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Abstract

Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy is currently accepted as an appropriate procedure for selected patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Evidence has demonstrated that VATS lobectomy is not only a safe and feasible technique, it provides better functional recovery and oncological efficacy similar to that achieved with conventional thoracotomy. However, there are still ongoing issues concerning VATS in terms of terminology, oncological efficacy, functional recovery, benefit of screening detected lung cancer, and its role in limited resection. As the number of VATS procedures are increasing and VATS is becoming a dominant procedural choice, it would be wise to collect evidence and come to a consensus to justify the expansion of surgical indications for VATS.

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Correspondence to Sanghoon Jheon.

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This review was submitted at the invitation of the editorial committee. p]Korea

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Jheon, S., Yang, H.C. & Cho, S. Video-assisted thoracic surgery for lung cancer. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 60, 255–260 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-011-0898-6

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