Surveillance after surgical resection of stage I non-small cell lung cancer

Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with reported 5-year overall survival rates as high as 90% (1). Despite this successful treatment, NSCLC remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide (2), partly because of its high recurrence rates and the elevated risk of developing subsequent new primary lung cancers. Recent data has demonstrated that surveillance after early lung cancer resection is not a futile exercise, since many patients can be diagnosed with new or recurrent cancer, and can be treated accordingly with high survival rates (3). In this article, we present an overview of guidelines and recent evidence surrounding the optimal surveillance regimen and follow-up care for survivors of stage I NSCLC.