Segmentectomy Is Supported as Standard of Care for Small, Peripheral Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Surgical resection via lobectomy is the standard treatment for patients with early-stage lung cancer. However, indications for sublobar resection of early-stage lung cancer have recently expanded to include small-sized, peripheral tumors with no lymph node involvement. Now, Japanese oncology groups have assessed whether segmentectomy is noninferior to lobectomy in treatment of clinical stage IA, small-sized, peripheral non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

This phase 3, randomized, controlled trial included 1106 patients with the following findings on contrast-enhanced computed tomography: a single tumor not located in the middle lobe, the center of which was in the outer third of the lung field; tumor diameter ≤2 cm; and no evidence of lymph …