Nodal Upstaging Is More Common with Thoracotomy than with VATS During Lobectomy for Early-Stage Lung Cancer: An Analysis from the National Cancer Data Base

Whether open and VATS lobectomy for lung cancer result in similar nodal assessment is unclear.  The authors compared rates of nodal upstaging for nearly 17,000 patients in the National Cancer Database who underwent resection for T2N0M0 or lower stage NSCLC.  Upstaging was more common in patients undergoing open resection (12.8% vs 10.3%).  This finding persisted when evaluating propensity score matched pairs.  The difference in nodal upstaging was not significant among patients operated on in academic centers.