Treatment of Early Stage Lung Cancer by VATS Versus OPEN Lobectomy

In patients with early stage lung cancer surgical lobectomy is the treatment of choice. A resection by Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) is probably superior to an open procedure by thoracotomy for patients with early stage lung cancer, but randomized evidence for superiority is lacking. Furthermore, VATS lobectomy has not gained broad implementation yet. The objective of this study is to assess the benefits of VATS- over open lobectomy regarding quality of life and costs in a prospective randomized controlled multicenter trial. All patients meeting the inclusion criteria that are not randomized will be included in a prospective Cohort.