Advances in thoracic surgery: from diagnosing nodules to treating locally advanced lung cancer

Abstract

The field of thoracic surgery has seen tremendous advances over the last decade with substantial progress over just the last several years. In this review, we discuss changes to lung cancer screening guidelines in the United States, briefly review ongoing trials and current screening programs in Europe and discuss the promising role of artificial intelligence (AI) in lung cancer screening. Additionally, we discuss new diagnostic techniques, including image-guided video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (iVATS), robotic bronchoscopy, and the use of biomarkers. We review current trends towards thoracic surgery becoming increasingly minimally invasive with the evolution of uniportal VATS (U-VATS) and uniportal robotic surgery (U-RATS). Lastly, we summarize the latest immunotherapy trials, which have revolutionized both neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment for lung cancer and have demonstrated promising potential to improve the lives of our patients. These advancements have dramatically changed the landscape of thoracic surgery in patients with lung cancer.

Keywords

• Artificial intelligence. Early detection of cancer. Image-guided biopsy. Immunotherapy. Lung neoplasms. Minimally invasive surgical procedures.