Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy with chest wall resection

As recently as 1947, Coleman and colleagues reported the first surgical treatment of lung cancer invading the chest wall (1). Although for some time, chest wall invasion was considered a contraindication for upfront resection (2), nowadays, despite some controversies, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) invading the parietal pleura and the chest wall is primarily a surgical disease (3). Lung cancers that infiltrate the parietal pleura, subpleural soft tissue or bony structures of the chest wall by direct contact are T3 tumors according to the tumor, node and metastasis (TNM) lung cancer staging system (4), and occur in only 5–8% of reported cases (5). In the absence of lymph node metastasis, 5-year survival is 40–50% (2,3,6-16). Superior sulcus tumors or Pancoast tumors occur in 1% of patients and will not be discussed in this article