Are Sleeves the New Pneumonectomy?

Abstract

Outcomes after sleeve resection are increasingly studied for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.1 Sleeve lobectomies avoid pneumonectomy (PN) and preserve lung parenchyma. In this issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Hattori and colleagues2 evaluated 43 patients who underwent extended sleeve lobectomy (ESL) with complex reconstruction and resection of more than 1 lobe for centrally located non-small cell lung cancer. Of the 43 patients, long-term survival was relatively good. The 3-year overall survival was 62.8% with 3-year recurrence-free survival of 43.5%.