Background
NSCLC, cancer death, Lung cancer, lung cancer, deaths, tumors
NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER, POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS, LUNG CANCER, LUNG CANCER, SECONDARY, NSCLC, TUMORS, COMPLICATIONS
Lung cancer (LC) remains a major health problem with an estimated 130,180 deaths in 2022 in the US, which makes it the leading cause of cancer death in both sexes [During the last decade, the use of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for LC has grown considerably. In France, the use of VATS jumped from 12% of lobectomies in 2012 to 48% in 2017 [Recommendations from the American College of Chest Physicians in 2013 and the European Society of Medical oncology in 2014 suggest that VATS lobectomy be performed depending on the experience of the surgeon and for tumors of any stage [To date, only four RCTs comparing complications and overall survival following VATS lobectomy or open thoracotomy for the treatment of lung cancer have been published in English [More recently, Bendixen et al. reported the results of the cost-utility analysis of VATS lobectomy performing a RCT including 103 patients in each group. They highlighted that VATS lobectomy was a cost-effective alternative to open thoracotomy for stage I LC [The medico-economic literature on this subject is poor, which is why a medico-economic study is now needed to determine whether the costs induced by VATS are offset by the reduction in postoperative complications. This paper presents the results of a large RCT assessing the medico-economic impact of VATS lobectomy when compared with open thoracotomy in the French context.The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and the cost-utility impacts of VATS lobectomy when compared with open thoracotomy for the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These medico-economic analyses were performed at 30 days after surgery. The secondary aim was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility impacts at 3 months after surgery.