Role of Lymphadenectomy in the Treatment of Clinical Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

It has been proved with acceptable certainty that mediastinal lymph node dissection does not increase complications in lung cancer surgery and improves the accuracy of staging. This applies to lung cancer at all resectable stages. As far as survival is concerned, statistically significant differences have been suggested by some authors and are more evident for early stages. Stage I non-small cell lung cancer, a local disease, may profit from lymph node dissection, a procedure that can effectively control local tumor, reduce local recurrence, and improve long-term survival.