Should sublobar resection be offered for screening-detected lung nodules?

The increasing use of low-dose CT for screening for lung cancer will inevitably identify many small, asymptomatic lung nodules and ground-glass opacities (GGOs). Current guidelines for the management of screening-detected lesions tend to advise a conservative approach based on serial imaging and intervention only if ‘suspicious’ features emerge. However, more recent developments in thoracic surgery and in the understanding of the screening-detected lesions themselves prompt some pertinent questions over this conservatism. Is CT surveillance sufficiently reliable to exclude malignancy? Is it really necessary to hold back on operative biopsy and resection given modern surgical safety and efficacy? Is the option for early surgical therapy a viable one—especially with the availability of sublobar resection today? Modern data suggests that the risk of inaction for some screening-detected lesions may be higher than expected, whereas the potential harm of surgical intervention may be substantially reduced by sublobar resection and the latest minimally invasive surgical techniques. A more pro-active approach towards offering surgery for screening-detected lesions should now be considered.