Pneumonectomy in stage IIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer

Stage IIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer is a very heterogeneous group of patients and the different therapeutic approaches for IIIA-N2 disease are still debated in particular when pneumonectomy has to be performed considering the expected low long-term survival and the worse post-operative outcome. In literature, there are different studies and randomized trials comparing the results of pneumonectomy in patients with and without induction therapy, showing different outcomes. Although several studies favor a definitive chemo-radiotherapy treatment in patients with IIIA-pN2 non-small cell lung cancer, through our results and the literature was showed that pneumonectomy could be considered a valid surgical option in well-selected patients based on the acceptable long-term survival and the low rate of post-treatment