Editorial on “upfront surgery as first-line therapy in selected patients with stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer”

In many countries, lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer deaths, as many patients are diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage (III or IV). Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of lung cancer cases. Treatment for patients with stage IIIA NSCLC remains one of the most challenging areas in thoracic surgery. During the last two decades, many clinical studies have focused on chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or chemoradiotherapy combined with or without surgery. However, optimal management of clinical stage IIIA NSCLC is still controversial in clinical practice (1).