Evaluation of prognosis after thoracoscopic lobectomy for primary lung cancer

INTRODUCTION Thoracoscopic lobectomy for primary lung cancer is performed at many institutions. However, few reports are available on postoperative prognosis for progressive stages. In 2004, we adopted lobectomy by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which would be applicable to the clinical stages up to stage IIIA. This study reports long-term outcomes of surgery for primary lung cancer at several stages, including IIIA. METHODS We compared the long-term outcomes of 315 VATS cases with those of 159 open thoracotomy cases. RESULTS The overall 5-year survival rate was 78.1% for the VATS group and 61.9% for the open thoracotomy group. A statistically significant difference between the survival curves of the two groups was observed (P = .001). When analyzing the survival curves for both groups by pathological (p) stage, significant differences were observed for p-stages IB and IIIA, with the VATS group producing better results than the open thoracotomy group. CONCLUSION The long-term outcomes of patients with primary lung cancer at our institution were more favorable in the group undergoing VATS lobectomy than in the group undergoing open thoracotomy.