外科医生常常被肺癌不同的自然病程所迷惑。一些为边缘性可切除的大的肺癌手术后可存活多年;而另一些容易切除且较小的肺癌在几个月内死于弥漫性转移。这种偶而的成功鼓励着外科医生对肺癌的治疗。但是,显然肺癌病人存活时间的改善并不是由于外科手术的进展。 Surgeons are often confused by the different natural course of lung cancer. Some large lung cancers that are marginally resectable survive many years after surgery; while others that are easily resected and smaller lung cancers die of diffuse metastases within months. This occasional success encourages surgeons to treat lung cancer. However, it is clear that the improvement in the survival time of lung cancer patients is not due to the progress of surgery.