Mediastinal involvement in resected non-small-cell lung cancer mandates adjuvant therapy and affects survival. This study investigated lymph node dissection efficacy, lymph node metastasis detection, and survival after robotic-assisted lobectomy for non-small-cell lung cancer.

We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent robotic-assisted lobectomy for non-small-cell lung cancer. Survival was assessed through chart reviews, Social Security Death Registry, and national obituary searches. Kaplan-Meier survival curves by clinical and pathologic stage were compared by log-rank and Cox regression analysis.

In 249 patients (mean age, 67.8 ± 0.6 years), mean individual mediastinal lymph nodes retrieved was 7.7 ± 0.3 lymph nodes, with mean of 13.9 ± 0.4 N1+ mediastinal lymph nodes. There were 159 (63.9%) clinical stage I versus 134 (53.8%) pathologic stage I patients, with 67 (26.9%) patients upstaged (20 cN0 to pN1; 17 cN0 to pN2; 4 cN1 to pN2) and 37 (14.9%) downstaged. One-year and 3-year survival rates, respectively, changed between clinical stage I (clinical stage I, 91% and 70%; clinical stage II, 80% and 64%; clinical stage III, 78% and 57%; clinical stage IV, 71% and 45%) and pathologic stage (pathologic stage I, 92% and 75%; clinical stage II, 83% and 73%; pathologic stage III, 75% and 44%; and pathologic stage IV, 67% and 0%).

Mediastinal lymph node dissection during robotic-assisted lobectomy adequately assesses lymph node stations and detects occult lymph node metastasis. Stage-specific survival is affected by upstaging.