Patients'characteristics during the study period
| 2005–2006 | 2007–2008 | 2009–2010 | 2011–2012 | p-value | |
| Demographics | |||||
| Patients n | 6305 | 8091 | 9811 | 9799 | |
| Women | 1520 (24.1) | 2076 (25.7) | 2688 (27.4) | 2960 (30.2) | <10−4 |
| Age ≥75 years | 853 (13.5) | 1159 (14.3) | 1463 (14.9) | 1568 (16) | <10−4 |
| Comorbidities per patient n | |||||
| 0 | 718 (11.4) | 874 (10.8) | 1038 (10.6) | 908 (9.2) | <10−4 |
| 1 | 1387 (22) | 1663 (20.5) | 1869 (19) | 1886 (19.2) | |
| 2 | 1598 (25.3) | 1957 (24.2) | 2381 (24.3) | 2459 (25.1) | |
| 3 | 2052 (32.5) | 2709 (33.5) | 3481 (35.5) | 3625 (37) | |
| 4 | 550 (8.7) | 888 (11) | 1042 (10.6) | 931 (9.4) | |
| Surgical management | <10−4 | ||||
| Wedge | 673 (10.7) | 870 (10.7) | 963 (9.9) | 973 (9.9) | |
| Segmentectomy | 163 (2.6) | 235 (2.9) | 429 (4.4) | 535 (5.4) | |
| Lobectomy | 4169 (66.1) | 5390 (66.6) | 6688 (68.2) | 6805 (69.4) | |
| Bi-lobectomy | 309 (4.9) | 395 (4.9) | 471 (4.8) | 460 (4.7) | |
| Pneumonectomy | 991 (15.7) | 1201 (14.8) | 1260 (12.8) | 1026 (10.5) | |
| Systematic nodal dissection | 5014 (79.5) | 6724 (83.1) | 8441 (86) | 8489 (86.6) | <10−4 |
| VATS lobectomy | 53 (1.2) | 82 (1.5) | 239 (3.5) | 730 (10.7) | <10−4 |
| Extended resection | 499(8) | 627(7.8) | 739(7.5) | 713(7.3) | 0.45 |
| Bronchoplasty | 173(2.7) | 168(2) | 237(2.4) | 206(2) | 0.02 |
| Perioperative management | |||||
| Neoadjuvant | |||||
| Chemotherapy | 968 (15.3) | 880 (10.9) | 1009 (10.3) | 843 (8.6) | <10−4 |
| Radiotherapy | 149 (2.3) | 118 (1.4) | 133 (1.3) | 109 (1.1) | <10−4 |
| Adjuvant | |||||
| Chemotherapy | 1296 (20.5) | 1485 (18.3) | 1421 (14.5) | 1501 (15.3) | <10−4 |
| Radiotherapy | 509 (8.1) | 528 (6.5) | 434 (4.4) | 413 (4.2) | <10−4 |
| Histological type | |||||
| Squamous cells | 1894 (30) | 2249 (27.8) | 2691 (27.4) | 2531 (25.8) | <10−4 |
| Adenocarcinoma | 2778 (44) | 3801 (47) | 4977 (50.7) | 5133 (52.4) | |
| Carcinoid | 193 (3) | 314 (3.9) | 377 (3.8) | 427 (4.3) | |
| Other | 383 (6) | 542 (6.7) | 558 (5.7) | 411 (4.2) | |
| Small cell lung cancer | 70 (1.1) | 78 (0.9) | 107 (1.1) | 81 (0.8) | |
| Tumour classification | |||||
| IA | 1094 (17) | 1669 (21) | 2285 (23) | 2513 (26) | <10−4 |
| IB | 1358 (21.5) | 1745 (21.5) | 2015 (20.5) | 1954 (20) | |
| IIA or B | 909 (14) | 1124 (14) | 1468 (15) | 1532 (16) | |
| IIIA | 943 (15) | 1192 (15) | 1481 (15) | 1382 (14) | |
| IIIB | 409 (6.5) | 515 (6) | 562 (6) | 427 (4) | |
| IV | 339 (5) | 449 (5.5) | 475 (5) | 377 (4) |
Data are presented as n (%), unless otherwise stated. VATS: video assisted thoracic surgery.