BACKGROUND: Lung cancer has the highest mortality in China. Different treatments are of great significance to the prognosis of patients. By comparing stage Ia non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients' survival rates for ablation and for sub-lobectomy, we studied the difference in the effects of the two treatments on patient prognosis. METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, we screened eligible patients with stage Ia NSCLC from January 2004 to December 2015. Then, 228 patients treated with ablation and 228 patients treated with sub-lobotomy were then selected based on propensity score matching. After stratification, matching, and adjustment the Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to compare the overall survival rates of patients treated with the two procedures. RESULTS: The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that there is a significant difference between the ablation group and the sub-lobectomy group (P<0.05). In the univarlable analysis, the hazard ratio (HR) of sub-lobotomy group was 0.571 (95%CI: 0.455-0.717) compared with the ablation group. Patients treated with sub-lobectomy had a 0.571 times greater risk of adverse outcomes than those treated with ablation. In the multivariable analysis, the HR for sub-lobectomy group was 0.605 (95%CI: 0.477-0.766) compared with the ablation group. Patients treated with sub-lobectomy had a 0.605 time greater risk of adverse outcomes than those treated with ablation. The results suggested that the overall survival rate of patients with stage Ia NSCLC treated with sub-lobotomy was higher than that of patients treated with ablation. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that there is a significant difference in overall survival of stage Ia NSCLC patients treated with ablation and with sub-lobotomy. Patients treated with sub-lobotomy for stage Ia NSCLC had higher overall survival than those treated with ablation.

Objective    To explore the short-term efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Methods    The clinical data of 11 male patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent pembrolizumab combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from December 2019 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The average age of the patients was 52.0-79.0 (62.0±6.9) years. The imaging data and pathological changes before and after neoadjuvant treatment were compared, and adverse reactions during neoadjuvant treatment were recorded. Objective remission rate (ORR) and main pathological remission rate (MPR) and pathological complete remission rate (pCR) were the main observation endpoints. Results    After preoperative neoadjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab combined with platinum or paclitaxel, all patients successfully underwent thoracoscopic radical resection of lung cancer. The ORR was 72.7%, and the MPR was 81.8%. Among them, 45.5% of patients achieved pCR. The main adverse reactions were hypoalbuminemia, decreased appetite and nausea. The mortality rate within 30 days after surgery was 0, and no tumor metastasis was observed. Conclusion    Pembrolizumab combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy is safe and feasible to treat non-small cell lung cancer, and the short-term efficacy is beneficial.

Surgery is a classic traditional method for the treatment of early-stage esophageal cancer, and it is also recognized as an effective first-choice method in the medical community. With the development of endoscopic technology, esophagus-preserving comprehensive treatment of esophageal cancer has almost the same or even better effects in some aspects in the treatment of early esophageal cancer than surgery. Many clinical guidelines have also recommended it as the first-choice treatment for early esophageal cancer. The room for surgical treatment of esophageal cancer has been further compressed. This article discusses the comprehensive treatment model of esophageal cancer from the perspective of thoracic surgery, aiming to find a new position of thoracic surgery in the treatment of esophageal cancer.