Results of surgical treatment in N2 lung cancer

Eighty patients were treated by resection for carcinoma of the lung with mediastinal lymph node metastases. Complete resection of the primary tumor and a mediastinal lymph node dissection were performed on all patients. The majority also received postoperative external radiation therapy to the mediastinum. Survival after resection was 47% at 3 years and 38% at 4 years. Survival was better when the histologic diagnosis was adenocarcinoma, when the primary tumor was small, and when the mediastinum appeared normal on regular chest roentgenograms. © 1981 Société Internationale de Chirurgie.