The history of surgery for lung cancer dates back to 73years ago,in 1933,when Evart Graham performedthe first successful pneumonectomy for lung cancer at theBarnes/Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis,Missouri,USA.InChina,the first successful pneumonectomy withindividual ligation of the hilar structures for lung cancerwas performed by CC Chang(Zhang Ji-zheng)in 1941,and the patient survived over ten years after the operation.Over half a century ago lung cancer was seen onlyinfrequently,but now it becomes a global epidemic andthe number-one cancer killer in both men and women.InChina,with a population of 1.3 billion,one can imaginehow great is the challenge for thoracic surgeons to copewith the rapidly growing number of lung cancer patients. 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. China, the first successful pneumonectomy withindividual ligation of the hilar structures for lung cancerwas performed by CC Chang (Zhang Ji-zheng) in 1941, and the patient survived over ten years after the operation .Over half a century ago lung cancer was seen only in rarely, but now it becomes a global epidemic and the number-one cancer killer in both men and women. China, with a population of 1.3 billion, one can imagine show great is the challenge for thoracic surgeons to copewith the rapidly growing number of lung cancer patients.