Preoperative examination to detect distant metastasis is not advocated for asymptomatic patients with stages 1 and 2 non-small cell lung cancer. Preoperative examination for lung cancer.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether all patients with non-small cell lung cancer, clinically defined as stage 1 or 2, should have examinations to determine the presence of distant metastatic (M1) disease. The survival rates of patients who underwent the examinations and those who did not were compared. In all groups, the examinations had in no way positively affected survival. The 33 patients in whom distant recurrence had occurred within 12 months of curative operation, were then evaluated to establish the relationship between the recurrent site and the preoperative examination: negative scans on the examination failed to predict the low incidence of early distant recurrence. Those data suggest that the routine use of radionuclide or CT scans is of no benefit to asymptomatic patients with local, early disease.