Uniportal VATS—a new era in lung cancer surgery

It is perhaps surprising that this quotation comes from a gentleman of tradition and conservatism. However, even one of the greatest prime ministers of Great Britain recognized that we live in a constantly evolving world and adaptation is the key to survival. In surgery for lung cancer, we are witnessing a significant revolutionary change in approach that has not been witnessed since the 1990’s when major lung resection became possible through minimally invasive “key-hole” surgery in the form of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) instead of through a large open thoracotomy. In 2011, as we recognized the 20^th anniversary of VATS lobectomy (1), another promising major advance in lung surgery, uniportal (single port) VATS lobectomy, was developed that has subsequently been more rapidly adopted than its parent procedure (2,3).