Long-term outcomes of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy vs. thoracotomy lobectomy for stage IA non-small cell lung cancer

Objectives Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy is performed widely for patients with clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) because of its superior short-term outcomes to those of thoracotomy lobectomy. However, the long-term outcomes of VATS lobectomy vs. thoracotomy lobectomy remain controversial.