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For localized lung cancer, surgery offers the best chance of cure. Although thoracotomy is the standard approach to lobectomy, evidence suggests that thoracoscopic lobectomy is just as effective and is associated with fewer complications. In this study, investigators used data from 17 U.S. cancer registries to compare outcomes of these two surgical approaches in patients with first primary non–small cell lung cancers.
A total of 6000 patients (mean age, 74) who underwent lobectomy were identified. Propensity-matched analysis in 1200 thoracotomy patients and 1200 thoracoscopy patients showed no statistically significant between-group differences in 3-year overall survival (68% and 71%), disease-free survival (85% and 86%), and cancer-specific…