The American Association for Thoracic Surgery has revised its 2023 expert consensus on staging and multidisciplinary management of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, published on 25 September 2026.
The revision reflects randomised trials since 2023 supporting preoperative or perioperative chemoimmunotherapy, adjuvant targeted therapy for eligible patients, and changing practice on adjuvant immunotherapy. It continues to stress accurate diagnosis and staging, molecular testing, and multidisciplinary review of anyone eligible for multimodality treatment.
This is a consensus document, and its detailed recommendations need reading in full. The practical thread is that molecular results now shape even early-stage treatment, so testing cannot wait until relapse.
- Send tissue for EGFR and ALK testing, and PD-L1 status, before surgery in resectable disease where feasible.
- Discuss every patient eligible for multimodality treatment at a multidisciplinary tumour board before surgery.
- Complete invasive mediastinal staging where imaging leaves nodal status uncertain.
- Plan adjuvant therapy decisions around molecular results rather than after them.
Why it matters
Surgery-first without molecular testing can close off options that trials now show improve outcomes.
Don't overread it
This is an expert consensus update; read the full document for specific recommendations.
Read the rest in the app
You have read your two free briefings this month. The app carries all 27 specialties, every morning, free — and this finding is waiting in it.
Scan to keep reading on your phone. No account needed to start.
Tomorrow morning, before your first patient
One edition a day for oncology, written by the desk, every claim tied to its paper. Six minutes.
Get the app — free