Nanotechnology in thoracic surgery.

Nanotechnology is an exciting and rapidly progressing field offering potential solutions to multiple challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, with the potential for improving imaging and mapping techniques, drug delivery, and ablative therapy. With promising preclinical results in many applications directly applicable to thoracic oncology, it is possible that the frontiers of minimally invasive thoracic surgery will eventually be explored at the nanoscale. (Ann Thorac Surg 2010; 89: S2188-90) (C) 2010 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons