Effect of selective lymph node dissection on immune function in patients with T1 stage non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Many lymph nodes resected from early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients haven't metastasis. Selective lymph node dissection (SLND) can reduce surgical trauma by retaining non-metastatic lymph nodes, we aimed to investigate whether SLND could reduce immune impairment compared with systematic lymph node dissection.

Methods: According to the selection criteria, patients with no metastasis in hilar and regional lymph nodes were selected as the research subjects.