HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Donald E. Low Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Low, D. E. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Low, D. E. Related Collections Lung - cancer

Ann Thorac Surg 2001;71:1777-1778
© 2001 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Invited commentary

^a Section of General Thoracic Surgery, Virginia Mason Medical Center, 1100 Ninth Ave, Seattle, WA 98111-0900, USA

e-mail: gtsdel@vmmc.org

The article by Wu and associates is a retrospective report of the results of an immunohistochemical (IHC) assessment of patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer. However, it is really an acknowledgment of the fact that a significant component of patients with perceived early stage disease will recur following surgical therapy alone, verifying the perception that a large percentage of lung cancer patients are under-staged using current techniques.

The article examines 103 patients who would historically be considered the most favorable prognostic subset of all patients with non-small cell lung cancer. IHC analysis produced a change in stage in 19.8% of cases. In some, these were dramatic, ie, changes from surgical stage 1A to 3A and 3B. Previous assessments of IHC applications in tumor staging have appropriately included concerns regarding which IHC technique is most appropriate and . . . [Full Text of this Article]