The validity of preoperative lymph node staging guidelines of European Society of Thoracic Surgeons in non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

Objective: The European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) has proposed preoperative lymph-node staging guidelines (LNSGs) for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on the introduction of new staging modalities into clinical practice. The validity of these guidelines was assessed.

Methods: Among the patients (n=185) with histologically confirmed NSCLC diagnosed between 2007 and 2009, who were suitable for thoracotomy, the 168 who underwent computed tomography (CT) of the chest and CT-integrated positron emission tomography (PET-CT) were included in the study.

Tumor angiogenesis in predicting the survival of patients with stage I lung cancer.

Objective: The effects of angiogenesis on survival were assessed by measuring the tumor microvessel density and vascular endothelial growth factor expression in patients with resected stage I non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Methods: The study population included 141 patients who underwent complete resection for stage pT1 and T2 N0 M0 tumors between 1999 and 2007. Lobectomy and pneumonectomy were performed in 131 and 10 patients, respectively.

[The role of positron emission tomography (PET) in mediastinal staging of non-small cell lung cancer].

Mediastinal lymph node metastasis (MLNM) is the most important prognostic factor and guide to the treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with no distant metastasis. As a non invasive method, using of positron emission tomography (PET) to evaluate NSCLC is increasing. We aimed to compare results of PET and mediastinoscopy to reveal effectiveness of PET in the mediastinal staging of NSCLC patients.