One advantage of thoracoscopy over axillary thoracotomy is that the entire lung can be inspected, rather than just the apex. The question about thoracoscopy arises about when to use this invasive modality. In most studies thoracoscopy has been used between 4 and 7 days after admission, after more conservative methods have failed. Perhaps thoracoscopy should be used earlier, especially in patients with recurrent spontaneous primary or first time secondary pneumothoraces. Lung Cancer Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths in men and women.
Prognosis depends on the extent of disease at the time of diagnosis.
Accurate staging, assessing the extent of local and distant disease, is necessary to determine resectability and overall prognosis. Surgical resection is the only curative hope for patients with lung cancer. One goal of staging is to classify properly operable patients and avoid surgery in those with unresectable disease. Revisions in the International System for Staging Lung Cancer. Current statistics on 5-year survival are also shown and examples of different stages are illustrated.