ABSTRACT
In 1996, 170,000 new cases of lung carcinoma were diagnosed while 156,000 patients died from the disease. Patients diagnosed with localized pulmonary car cinoma are treated surgically. Surgical intervention for pulmonary carcinoma re quires at a minimum a lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection. Pa tients diagnosed with locally advanced disease are treated with either surgery and adjuvant therapy or exclusively with adjuvant therapy. Disseminated disease is treated with chemotherapy alone. Currently, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has been utilized for diagnosis, staging and treatment of pulmonary carcinoma.
