Clinical Trials

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Suspected or proven non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), meeting both preoperative and intraoperative criteria:
  • Preoperative criteria
    • Peripheral lung nodule ≤ 2 cm by CT scan
      • Center of the tumor must be located in the outer third of the lung in either the transverse, coronal, or sagittal plan
      • Tumor location must be suitable for either lobar or sublobar resection (wedge resection or segmentectomy)
    • No pure ground opacities or pathologically confirmed N1 or N2 disease
  • Intraoperative criteria
    • Histologically confirmed NSCLC
    • Confirmation of N0 status by frozen section examination of nodal levels 4, 7, and 10 on the right side and 5, 6, 7, and 10 on the left side*
      • Levels 4 and 7 nodes may be sampled by mediastinoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), and/or endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), or at the time of thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) exploration* NOTE: *Nodes previously sampled by mediastinoscopy (or EBUS and/or EUS) either immediately before or within 6 weeks of the definitive surgical procedure (thoracotomy or VATS) do not need to be resampled
• No evidence of locally advanced or metastatic disease

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status 0-2
• No other malignancy within the past 3 years except for nonmelanoma skin cancer, superficial bladder cancer, or carcinoma in situ of the cervix

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• No prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy for this malignancy