Meticulous lymph node dissection and gross pathological examination improves survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients

Meticulous intraoperative lymph-node staging is one of the most important factors in determining an adequate prognosis and therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (1). Especially for surgeons with little experience in the field of oncological thoracic surgery, a systematic, and thus careful lymphadenectomy (LAD) required for an operable NSCLC patient, is not an everyday challenge and can potentially lead to a diminished outcome for the patient who has to undergo this surgery.