Lung surgery for lung cancer: Overview
The goal of surgery for lung cancer is to remove all of the cancer and a border of normal tissue (margin) around it. The type of surgery depends on the location and size of the tumor. Types include:
- Wedge resection.
- The doctor removes a small wedge of lung.
- Segmentectomy.
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The doctor removes a larger part of the lung.
- Lobectomy.
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The doctor removes the affected lobe of the lung.
- Sleeve resection.
- The doctor removes the affected part of the bronchus and reconnects the healthy ends.
- Pneumonectomy.
- The doctor removes the whole affected lung.
During surgery, the doctor may also remove nearby lymph nodes to find out if the cancer has spread.
Lung surgery may be done through one cut (incision) in the chest (thoracotomy). Or it may be done through several small cuts (video-assisted thoracic surgery, or VATS). Your doctor can help you understand which type of surgery is best for you.
Why is lung surgery for lung cancer done?
A thoracotomy may be done to:
- Confirm the diagnosis of lung cancer.
- Remove a lung cancer.
- Remove scar tissue or fix an air leak in your lung.
VATS may be done to:
- Confirm the diagnosis of lung cancer.
- Biopsy lymph nodes in the center part of your chest (mediastinum).
- Do a wedge resection of your lung cancer. This removes the cancer and the lung tissue surrounding the cancer.
- Remove the segment (lobe) of the lung that contains the cancer.
How well does lung surgery for lung cancer work?
Surgery is more effective in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer when the lung cancer can be completely removed and the cancer has not spread to lymph nodes or outside the chest cavity.
Surgery is sometimes used in limited-stage small cell lung cancer, when there is a single tumor and the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes. But small cell lung cancers are not often diagnosed at this early stage.
Studies done in medical centers that do many minimally invasive lung surgeries (VATS) have shown that this type of surgery works as well as open-chest surgery (thoracotomy) for cancer treatment. People who had VATS also had less pain, a shorter hospital stay, and a faster recovery.
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