Current status and future directions of surgery for lung cancer in China

The history of surgery for lung cancer dates back to 73 years ago, in 1933, when Evart Graham performed the first successful pneumonectomy for lung cancer at the Barnes/Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. In China, the first successful pneumonectomy with individual ligation of the hilar structures for lung cancer was performed by CC Chang （Zhang Ji-zheng） in 1941, and the patient survived over ten years after the operation.