EML4-ALK Fusion Gene in Korean Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

A fusion gene between echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4) and the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) has been identified in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Although a few studies have evaluated EML4-ALK fusion genes in Korean NSCLCs, the prevalence of different EML4-ALK fusion variants has yet to be clearly assessed. Herein, we have examined the profiles of EML4-ALK fusion gene variants in Korean patients of NSCLCs. EML4-ALK fusion genes have been detected in 10 (6.0%) of 167 patients of NSCLCs and in 9 (7.4%) of 121 patients of adenocarcinoma. Of the 10 patients with fusion genes identified, 8 (80%) were E13;A20 (variant 1) and 2 (20%) were E6;A20, with an additional 33-bp sequence derived from intron 6 of EML4 (variant 3b). These results indicate that the profiles of EML4-ALK fusion gene variants in Korean patients of NSCLC may differ from those in other ethnic populations. Herein, we describe for the first time the profiles of EML4-ALK fusion variants of Korean patients with NSCLCs.

Synchrotron Radiation Imaging of Female Breast Tissues Using Phase Contrast Technique / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: X-ray microscopy with synchrotron radiation might be a useful tool for novel x-ray imaging in the clinical and laboratory settings. This technique provides detailed images of internal structures non-invasively. It also has the potential to resolve some of the limitations of conventional breast imaging. We evaluated high resolution synchrotron imaging of breast tissues from normal breasts and breasts with fibroadenomas and cancer. METHODS: A new x-ray microscope was installed on the 1B2 beamline of a Pohang Light Source, at a third generation synchrotron radiation facility in Pohang, Korea. The phase contrast x-ray energy was set at 6.95 keV and the x-ray beam was monochromatized by a W/B4C monochromator. Formalinfixed or unfixed female breast tissue from normal breast as well as breasts with fibroadenomas and carcinoma were attached onto the Kapton film. The sample was positioned 25 m away from the beam source. The x-ray image of the sample was converted into a visual image on the CsI (TI) scintillation crystal, and magnified 20 times by the microscopic objective lens. After an additional 10 fold digital magnification, this visual image was captured by a full frame CCD camera. RESULTS: The monochromated x-ray microscopic images of female breast tissue from normal breast, fibroadenoma and carcinoma cases were evaluated. The total magnifying power of the microscope was x200. This synchrotron radiation imaging enabled us to observe detailed structures of breast tissue without sample preparation such as staining or fixation. CONCLUSION: Using monochromated synchrotron radiation, the x-ray microscopic images of the normal breast and breasts with fibroadenomas and cancer were obtained. From the images obtained, the x-ray microscopic imaging of breast tissue with synchrotron radiation appears to have great potential for clinical and research purposes such as oncology studies, early detection of cancer and as an aid to the pathological diagnosis in the future.

Detection of Lung Cancer using MAGE A1-6 and SSX4 RT-PCR Expression Profiles in the Bronchial Wash Fluid / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: Bronchial wash fluid may be a useful for detecting lung cancer. To increase the detection rates, we performed molecular analysis with using MAGE A1-6 and SSX4 RT-PCR on bronchial wash fluid specimens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained 57 lung cancer tissue specimens by bronchoscopic biopsy and 131 bronchial washes from 96 patients with lung cancer and 35 patients with benign lung diseases. The MAGE A1-6 and SSX4 gene expressions were investigated in the cancer tissue specimens and bronchial wash fluids. We evaluated the positive detection rates of these methods according to the cytology results and the clinical findings. RESULTS: For the cancer tissue specimens and the bronchial wash fluid, the positive detection rate of MAGE or SSX4 was 91.2% and 75.0%, respectively. Combined MAGE and SSX4 PCR and cytology tests showed an 83.3% detection rate for the bronchial wash fluid. From bronchial washes of patients with benign lung diseases, the positive rates of using MAGE or SSX4 was 11.4%. In the bronchial wash fluid of lung cancer patients, 66.7% of the peripheral cancers were detected by MAGE or SSX4, while examination with cytology did not detect any peripheral lung cancer. CONCLUSION: The application of both MAGE and SSX4 showed high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of lung cancer. Thus, MAGE and SSX4 RT-PCR may be effectively utilized as additional methods to improve detection of lung cancer with using bronchial wash fluids.

Glut1 Expression and FDG Uptake in Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma: Its Relationship to Histopathologic Types and Proliferation Rate

PURPOSE: 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is known to be useful in the detection of lung cancer. However, the degree of FDG uptake was variable. To correlate FDG activity on PET with various histopathologic factors,we assessed the relationships between 18F-FDG uptake and glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) expression, histologic subtypesand Ki-67 labelling indices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred two patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had surgery and preoperative 18F-FDG PET scan as a part of the staging work-up were enrolled in this study. The amount of FDG uptake in the primary lesion was measured by a standardized uptake values (SUVs) and correlated with tumor size, histologic subtypes, and immunohistochemical results of Glut1 and Ki-67 labelling indices. RESULTS: Cell type of NSCLC were 52 adenocarcinomas, 36 squamous cell carcinomas, 14 other NSCLC. All tumors could be detected by FDG PET. Uptake was correlated with tumor size (p<0.01). The FDG uptake was significantly lower in adenocarcinomas than in squamous cell carcinomas or other NSCLC (p<0.001). The percentages of Glut1- positive area and staining intensity of the tumor were also significantly lower in adenocarcinomas than in squamous cell carcinomas or other NSCLC (p<0.001). Ki-67 labelling indices of the tumor correlated with the percentage of Glut1 intensity and SUVs in NSCLC (p7lt;0.001). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that overexpression of Glut1 and proliferating activity is related to 18F-FDG uptake in NSCLC. Glut1 expression appear to be different among histologic subtypes. Glut1 expression, as well as FDG uptake, is lower in adenocarcinomas than squamous cell carcinomas or other NSCLC.

Proseal Laryngeal Mask Airway for the Resection of a High Grade Upper Tracheal Stenosis: A case report / 대한마취과학회지

Laryngeal mask airways (LMAs) have several advantages compared with conventional endotracheal tube (ETT) in tracheal surgery. LMAs cannot penetrate the airway below the level of the glottis, but enable the access to the larynx and tracheobronchial tree while avoiding airflow impairment, tracheal stimulation, trauma, and the interference of tracheal mucosal blood flow. Moreover, LMAs have lower airway resistance than ETTs. We describe the use of a proseal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) in patients with high grade upper tracheal stenosis. We suggest that PLMA might have advantages over the classic LMA by preventing aspiration and by allowing the evacuation of air from the stomach in high-grade upper tracheal stenosis.

Primary Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in Right Ventricle with Right Atrial Invasion: Report of 1 case / 대한흉부외과학회지

Primary cardiac lymphoma is an extranodal malignant lymphoma of any cell type involving only heart and pericardium without dissemination. Patients usually present symptoms of heart failure, arrhythmias, pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade. Diagnosis of primary cardiac lymphoma can be performed by echocardiogram, CT and MRI and cytologic examination of pericardial effusion or transvenously biopsied cardiac tissue. Prognosis of primary cardiac lymphoma is poor. Because of poor prognosis, early diagnosis and complete surgical excision is essential and postoperative systemic chemotherapy or radiotherapy is useful. In this case extensive tumor infiltration on the right ventricle and atrioventricular groove preclude surgical excision. Tissue biopsy revealed primary cardiac lymphoma. After postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the size of intracardiac mass is decreased in follow up chest CT scan and echocardiogram and symptoms of patient are relieved. Therefore, we report a case of primary cardiac lymphoma with review of literatures.

Effects of Tobacco-Specific Carcinogen on Protein Kinase C Isoforms / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of the lung cancer. However, mechanism of action underlying the carcinogenesis in the lung still remains to be elucidated. The present study attempted to look into the carcinogenic potential of tobacco-specific nitrosamine, NNK (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone) and the effects of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in an immortalized human epithelial cell model. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Immortalized human epithelial cells were exposed with NNK and examined for its carcinogenic potential as measured by saturation density, soft-agar colony formation, and cell aggregation assay. The specific isoform of PKCs involved in the cellular transformation was analysed through western blot with monoclonal antibody and measured separately in cytosolic fraction and membrane fraction. RESULT: Human epithelial cells exposed with NNK showed prominent carcinogenic potential in saturation density, soft agar colony formation, and cell aggregation assay. PKC isoform analysis results are as follows: PKC-alpha showed significant translocation of protein levels from cytosolic fraction to membrane fraction, as analyzed by immunoblot. PKC-epsilon showed a dose-dependent increase of translocation. PKC-lambda was not affected by NNK treatment. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that there was a certain specificity in the patterns of isoform induction following chemical carcinogen exposure. Thus, it is suggested that identification of specific isoform be a clue to find target molecules in the carcinogenesis.

Propofol Attenuates Prostacyclin-induced Pulmonary Vasorelaxation in U46619 Preconstricted Dog / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: The goal of our study was to investigate the effects of propofol anesthesia on the pulmonary vascular response to prostacyclin during U46619 precontraction in dogs. METHODS: Eight mongrel dogs were anesthetized and instrumented to measure the left pulmonary vascular pressure-flow relation, by loosely positioning a hydraulic occluder around the right main pulmonary artery and placing an electromagnetic flow probe around the left main pulmonary artery. During slowly occlusion of the right main pulmonary artery, the pressure-flow plots were measured in the left main pulmonary artery in the control and propofol-anesthetized (5.0 mg/kg plus 0.5 mg/kg/min intravenously) states at baseline, after preconstriction with the U46619, and during the cumulative intravenous administration of prostacyclin. RESULTS: Propofol had no effect on the baseline pressure-flow relation versus the control state. A lower (P <0.05) dose of U46619 was necessary to achieve the same degree of preconstriction during propofol anesthesia. The pulmonary vasodilator response to prostacyclin was markedly attenuated (P <0.05) during propofol anesthesia compared to the control state. CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that propofol directly inhibits the pulmonary vasodilatory effects of prostacyclin. However the signal transduction pathway of cyclooxygenase-induced pulmonary vasodilation requires further investigation to determine mechanisms involved.

Photodynamic Therapy for Neoplasms in Intrathoracic Constructed Stomach / 대한흉부외과학회지

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a local, endoscopically controlled nonoperative therapeutic technique based on selective sensitization of mucosal, malignant and precancerous lesions of the esophagus, trachea and bronchus prior to light-induced tissue destruction in the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. PDT is effective and safe for palliative treatment of neoplasms in the stomach, esophagus, and lung. But skin phototoxicity is unsatisfactory, therefore optimization of management of post-PDT is necessary for preventing phototoxic side effects of skin. Careful patient education in photoprotection techniques, close patient follow-up, early dermatologic referral and medical treatment are recommended. We performed PDT in a patient with intrathoracic constructed stomach. We report this case with a brief review of literatures, therefore.

Operation of Tricuspid Valve Endocarditis with Pulmonary Infarction: Lobectomy with Open Heart Surgery / 대한흉부외과학회지

An eight-year-old boy was referred to our hospital with cough and high fever. His past medical history included a small sized ventricular septal defect (VSD) at birth. Transthoracic echocardiography disclosed a 10x6 mm vegetation on tricuspid valve, a small VSD and the moderate tricuspid valve insufficiency were found. Blood cultures grew methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. Despite proper antibiotic therapy, fever was not controlled and his course was complicated by pulmonary infarction. The patient simultaneously underwent pulmonary resection and open heart surgery. Through the median sternotomy we performed open thrombectomy and lobectomy (right lower lobe) at first, and then vegetectomy, tricuspid valve repair, and direct closure of VSD were done under cardiopulmonary bypass.

Differential Lung Ventilation Therapy for Reexpansion Pulmonary Edema: Report of 2 cases / 대한흉부외과학회지

Reexpansion pulmonary edema is a rare complication of the treatment of lung collapse secondary to pneumothorax, pleural effusion, or atelectasis. But occasionally, severe morbidity and death may result. Reexpansion pulmonary edema occurs when chronically collapsed lung is rapidly reexpanded by evacuation of large amounts of air or fluid. In the treatment of the chronically collapsed lung, physicians must remember the possible events and prevent the complications. When the difference in airway resistance or lung compliance between the two lungs is exaggerated, conventional mechanical ventilation might lead to preferential ventilation with hyperexpansion of one lung and gradual collapse of the other. Differential ventilation has been advocated to avert this problem. By differential lung ventilation, we successfully treated a severe reexpansion pulmonary edema in two patients. Therefore we suggest that differential lung ventilation is the treatment of choice for severe reexpansion pulmonary edema.

Hydrogen Peroxide Modulates Phospholipase A2 Aactivity and Endogenous Oxidative Stress in the Free Radical Induced Acute Lung Injury / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: In an attempt to investigate the role of oxidants in the activation of phospholipase A2(PLA2) and endogenous oxidative stress in the lung, acute inflammatory lung injury was induced by the instillation of hydrogen peroxide into the trachea of Sprague-Dawley rats. MATERIAL AND METHOD: To prove the hypothesis that released oxidants from neutrophils activate the PLA2 retrogradely, activities of PLA2 and lysoplatelet activating factor acetyltransferase(lysoPAF AT) were assayed 5 hours after instillation of hydrogen peroxide. In addition, to confirm the impairing effects of the activation of PLA2 associated with endogenous oxidative stress, lung weight/body weight ratio(Lx10(-3)/B), protein contents(mg/two lungs) in bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) were measured. As neutrophilic respiratory burst has been known to play a pivotal role in the genesis of endogenous oxidative stress associated with acute inflammatory lung injury, BAL neutrophils counts and level of lung myelperoxidase(MPO) were measured after hydrogen peroxide insult. Morphological and histochemical studies were also performed to identify the effect of the endogenous oxidative stress. RESULT: Five hours after hydrogen peroxide instillation, lungs showed marked infiltration of neutrophils and increased weight. Protein contents in BAL increased significantly compared to those of normal rats. PLA2 activity was enhanced in the hydrogen peroxide instilled group. Interestingly, the accelerated production of platelet activating factor(PAF) was confirmed by the increased activity of lysoPAF AT in the H2O2 employed lung. Morphologically, light microscopic findings of lungs after instillation of hydrogen peroxide showed atelectasis and infiltration of inflammatory cells, which was thought to be caused by lipid mediators produced by PLA2 activation. In cerium chloride cytochemical electron microscopy, dense deposits of cerrous perhydroxide were identified. In contrast, no deposit of cerrous perhydroxide was found in the normal lung. CONCLUSION: As all these findings were consistent with the lung injury caused by neutrophilic oxidative stress, it is suggested that the activation of PLA2 by oxidants might participate in the genesis of endogenous oxidative stress. Collectively, the positive feedback loop between oxidative stress and PLA2 activation may participate in the pathogenesis of Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome(ARDS).

Critical Pathway for Management of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: With the advances of video technology, thoracoscopic surgery has been applied to various areas of the thoracic surgical fields including major surgeries. Now a days, thoracoscopic surgery is performed as a procedure of choice for primary spontaneous pneumothorax. But the operative indication for the primary spontaneous pneumothorax has not been changed since the last few decades, although the procedure of choice was changed from open thoracotomy to thoracoscopy. Therefore, we thought new treatment strategy will be necessary for the management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between January 1998 and December 1999, 149 primary spontaneous pneumothorax patients were admitted to the Kyungpook National University Hospital. Result; Of these patients, 177 were first attack pneumothoraces and the number of total attacks were 250. CONCLUSION: Analyzing the amount of pneumothorax, methods of treatment, number of recurrences, recurrence rate and hospital stay, we propose a critical pathway for establishing new treatment strategy for the management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Intrapleural Perfusion Hyperthermic-Chemotherapy for Pleural Seeding of Lung Cancer / 대한흉부외과학회지

Lung cancer with pleural seeding has poor prognosis and is generally treated by intravenous anticancer chemotherapy only. We performed intrapleural perfusion hyperthermic-chemotherapy in two lung cancer patients with pleural seeding. Herein, we report our outcome with literature review.

Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection to the Superior Vena Cava / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: Surgical correction of partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection to the superior vena cava has been associated with postoperative venous obstruction and sinus node dysfunction. In this paper we describe our current approach and its short-term results. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between April 1999 and January 2000, 5 consecutive patients, ranging from 2 months to 66 years old, underwent corrective operation for partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection to the superior vena cava at Sejong General Hospital and Daegu Catholic University Medical Center. Surgical correction involved diversion of the pulmonary venous drainage to the left atrium using a right atrial flap(2 patients) or prosthetic patch(3 patients) with division of the superior vena cava superior to the entrance site of the pulmonary veins and reimplantation on the right atrial appendage to restore systemic venous drainage. RESULT: All patients were discharged between postoperative day 9 and 15 without complications. One Russian boy returned to his country, therefore, he was lost to follow-up after discharge. Remaining 4 patients were asymptomatic and in normal regular sinus rhythm at a mean follow-up of 17.75+/-4.27 months. Follow-up echocardiographic study (range, 12 to 24 months) revealed no incidence of narrowing of the venous pathways or of residual shunt. CONCLUSION: Our current approach is relatively simple and reproducible in achieving unobstructive pulmonary venous and SVC pathways. By avoiding incision across the cavoatrial junction, surgical injury to the sinus node and its artery may be minimized. The presented surgical technique can be safely and effectively applied to the selected patients.

Phospholipase A2 Contributes to Hemorrhage-induced Acute Lung Injury Through Neutrophilic Respiratory Burst / 결핵

BACKGROUND: The present study was carried out in association with neutrophilic respiratory burst in the lung in order to clarify the pathogenesis of acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS) following acute severe hemorrhage. Because oxidative stress has been suggested as one of the principal factors causing tissue injury, the role of free radicals from neutrophils was assessed in acute hemorrhage-induced lung injury. METHOD: In Sprague-Dawley rats, hemorrhagic shock was induced by withdrawing blood(20 ml/kg of B.W) for 5 min and the hypotensive state was sustained for 60 min. To determine the mechanism and role of oxidative stress associated with phospholipase A2(PLA2) by neutrophils, the level of lung leakage, pulmonary myeloperoxidase(MPO), and the pulmonary PLA2 were measured. In addition, the production of free radicals was assessed in isolated neutrophils by cytochemical electron microscopy in the lung. RESULTS: In hypotensive shock-induced acute lung injury, the pulmonary MPO, the level of lung leakage and the production of free radicals were higher. The inhibition of PLA2 with mepacrine decreased the pulmonary MPO, level of lung leakage and the production of free radicals from neutrophils. CONCLUSION: A. neutrophilic respiratory burst is responsible for the oxidative stress causing acute lung injury followed by acute, severe hemorrhage. PLA2 activation is the principal cause of this oxidative stress.

Treatment of Coarctation of the Aorta with Subclavian Flap Aortoplasty in Infants / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: There has been controversy over the prevalence of recoarctation in infants treated by subclavian flap aortoplasty (SFA) for coarctation of the aorta. To assess the rate of recurrence of coarctation after SFA, we reviewed the surgical results of SFA in infants with coarctation of the aorta. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between 1986 and 1998, a total of 25 patients less than 1 year of age (12 neonates and 13 infants) underwent SFA for aortic coarctation. Age at operation was 3.0+/-3.0 months (mean +/- standard deviation); mean weight was 5.0+/-1.4kg. Classic SFA was performed in 20 patients, reversed SFA in 2 patients, subclavian artery reimplantation in 2 patients and the combined resection-flap aortoplasty in one. The aortic clamping time ranged from 20 to 88 minutes(mean 35.8 minutes). There were one operative death and two late deaths. There was no case of paraplegia or left arm ischemia in complications. Twenty-one (84%) of 24 hospital survivors were followed for 26.0+/-24.0 months. The risk of recoarctation in neonates (33.3%) was a little greater than infants (25.0%) without statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that SFA resulted a relatively high incidence of recarctation in infants. It is desirable to select other methods of surgical treatment (combined resection-flap aortoplasty, extended end-to-end repair etc.) for severe isthmic coarctation or hypoplasia of the distal aortic arch in infants, instead of choosing SFA indiscriminately.

Ten-year Clinical Experience with CarboMedics Valve / 대한흉부외과학회지

From March 1988 to June 1994, 275 CarboMedics cardiac valve prostheses (199 mitral, 70 aortic and 3 tricuspid) were implanted in 226 consecutive patients(mean age 39 years, male/female 90/136) by one surgical team operating on adult cardiac patients at Kyungpook University Hospital. Total follow up represented 16,848 patient-months (mean 76 months) and follow up rate was 96%. One hundred and forty-nine patients (66%) wer in NYHA functional class III or IV preoperatively, and 204 patients (99.5%) were in class I or II postoperatively. Early mortality was 4.9% and late death was 9.3%. The actuarial survival at 81 months was 86.l2+/-3.1%. The linearized incidence of valve-related death, prosthetic valve thrombosis, anticoagulation-related hemorrhage, non-structural dysfunction and reoperation were 0.71%, 0.43%, 0.07%, 0.21%, and 0.14% respectively. The 81-month rate of freedom from all valve related complications and deaths including hospital mortality was 88.1+/-2.5%. Thee facts suggest that the CarboMedics cardiac valve has excellent result, low incidence of valve-related complications and no structureal deterioration.

Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery through A Small Right Parasternal Incision / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive techniques for open heart surgery are widely accepted in these days. There are minimally invasive approaches by the right or left parasternal incision and another approaches by mini-sternotomy of upper or lower half or sternum. We report the safety and efficacy of minimally invasive technique with right parasternal incision compared with the routine full sternotomy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From April 1997 through February 1999, 20 patients (Group A) underwent minimally invasive cardiac operations. We chose 41 patients (Group B) whose preoperative diagnosis were the same and general conditions were similar and who underwent routine full sternotomy before April 1997. We compared A group and B group in many aspects. We performed routine full median sternotomy in B group but we did a minimally invasive technique through a small right parasternal incision in A group. RESULT: mean age was 36.1 years in both groups. In disease entities, there were 11 cases of ASD, 9 cases of mitral valve disease in group A, and 16 cases of ASD, 25 cases of mitral valve diseases in group B. In ASD, operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time of aortic occulusion time were 263 min, 82 min, and 41 min in group A and 180 min, 53 min, and 32 min in group B. In mitral valve disease, operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic occlusion time were 267min, 106 min, and 70min in A group and were 207 min, 82 min, and 69 min in group B. There were significant differences in operation time, CPB time, and ACC time between group A and group B. There was a significant difference in the amount of bleeding in postoperative day 1 between group A and group B of mitral diasease. However, there was no significant difference in the amount of bleeding in other comparisons. Mean length of incision was 8.7 cm in group A. There was no significant difference in postoperative complications between A group and B group. There was no mortality in either group. CONCLUSION: We conclude that this minimally invasive technique with right parasternal incision is cosmetically excellent but it is not effective in reducing operative time and there was no significant difference in recovery time and postoperative complications compared with routine full sternotomy.

Surgical Treatment of Primary Lung Cancer / 대한흉부외과학회지

Primary lung cancer has recently increased progressively in its incidence in Korea. It is clearly evident that surgical resection offers the best offortunity for cure of non-small cell carcinoma. This study was designed to analyse the clinical data of 100 primary non-small cell carcinoma patients who underwent lung resection surgery from January 1992 to July 1995 at the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Sugery, Kyungpook National University Hospital. There were 86 males and 14 females(6:1). In the age distribution, the peak incidence was recorded in the seventh decade(43%). The methods of tissue diagnosis were bronchoscopic biopsy in 53 patients(50.5%), percutaneous needle aspiration in 17 patients(16.2%), transbronchial lung biopsy in 11 patients(10.5%), mediastinoscopic biopsy in 2 patients (1.9%), sputum cytology in 2 patients(1.9%), and thoracotomy in 20 patients(19.0%). Fifty-five lobectomies, 22 pneumonectomies, 15 bilobectomies, 2 segmentectomies, 4 sleeve lobectomies, a sleeve pneumonectomy, and a wedge pneumonectomy were performed. Operative mortality occured in 4 cases(sepsis in 2 cases, respiratory failure in 1 case, and acute myocardiac infarction in 1 case). The histologic types of tumor were 67 squamous cell carcinomas, 26 adenocarcinomas, 6 large cell carcinomas, and an adenosquamous cell carcinoma. Eighteen patients with N2 mediastinal lymph node metastases had 8 squamous cell carcinomas(11.9%), 9 adenocarcinomas(34.6%), and a large cell carcinoma(16.7%). The primary tumors in these patients were in the right upper lobe in 4 patients, the right middle and lower lobe in 9 patients, the left upper lobe in 3 patients, and the left lower lobe in 2 patients. With regard to pathologic stages, 45 patients had stage I disease; 13 patients, stage II; 36 patients, stage IIIa; 5 patients, stage IIIb; and 1 patient, stage IV. The overall actuarial survival rate was 77.5% at 12 months, 56.1% at 24 months and 43.7% at 43 months. The actuarial survival rates at 43 months were 81.3% in Stage I, 20.8% in Stage II, 27.9% in Stage IIIa, 25.0% in Stage IIIb and 33.3% in Stage IV. These facts suggest that early detection and surgical resection are recommended for favorable postoperative survival in non-small cell lung cancer.