Number of Lymph Nodes Associated With Maximal Reduction of Long-Term Mortality Risk in Pathologic Node-Negative Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lymph node evaluation falls far short of optimal in patients with resected pN0 NSCLC, raising the odds of underestimation of long-term mortality risk and failure to identify candidates for postoperative adjuvant therapy. This represents a major quality gap for which corrective intervention is warranted.