Limited resection versus lobectomy in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer

The optimal surgical treatment of early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains a subject of ongoing research and debate. A recent retrospective analysis of the results of limited resections compared to formal lobectomy in T1a NSCLC was performed by Dai et al. (1). Based on their data, the authors concluded that lobectomy was superior to more limited resection for all tumors ≤2 cm. For tumors >1 to 2 cm, segmentectomy appeared superior to wedge resection when a limited resection was performed.