Response to: Estimated direct costs of non‐small cell lung cancer by stage at diagnosis and disease management phase: A whole‐disease model

According to the eighth edition of the TNM lung cancer stage classification revealed in 2017, 3 five‐year survival rate declines dramatically both clinically and pathologically in patients diagnosed with stage I to stage IV. The significant findings of the study are the high cost of surgery which make the early stages of the disease no less expensive than the advanced stages on a one‐year timeline after disease has first been clinically suspected. 4 We agree with these findings as for operable lung cancer patients on a one‐year timeline, most of this period is spent on diagnostic auxiliary examination, surgery and short‐term recovery which take most time and money, and subsequent neoadjuvant chemotherapy or other treatment costs are relatively lower. Video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for early‐stage lung cancer patients in the Day Surgery Center at our hospital is a case in point which solves this problem, as patients usually spend less than 24 hours in hospital.