ORIGINAL ARTICLE Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg (2012) 60:104–111 DOI 10.1007/s11748-011-0850-9 Current status of postoperative follow-up for lung cancer in Japan: questionnaire survey by the Setouchi Lung Cancer Study Group—A0901 Shigeki Sawada, MD, PhD · Hiroshi Suehisa, MD, PhD Motohiro Yamashita, MD, PhD Masao Nakata, MD, PhD Norihito Okumura, MD, PhD · Kazunori Okabe, MD Hiroshige Nakamura, MD, PhD Hirohito Tada, MD, PhD · Shinichi Toyooka, MD, PhD Hiroshi Date, MD, PhD Abstract Purpose. There is no recommended standard follow-up program after resection for lung cancer. Under these Received: 17 February 2011 / Accepted: 15 June 2011 © The Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery 2012 circumstances, each doctor establishes his or her own follow-up protocol. This questionnaire survey was con- ducted to grasp the current status of postoperative fol- low-up in Japan. Methods. The questionnaire survey was aimed at deter- mining what examinations were performed and at what frequencies in the setting of postoperative follow-up. Based on these results, examinations performed at a fre- quency of >50% and the time points after resection at which they were performed were selected and presented as components of an average follow-up program. Results. Questionnaires were sent to 44 institutions, and 26 doctors responded to the questionnaire. All 26 of the doctors performed physical examinations, blood exami- nations, chest radiography, and computed tomography (CT) routinely, but their frequencies varied widely among the doctors. The average frequencies of the fol- low-up examinations as judged from this survey are as follows: Physical and blood examinations are performed three to four times a year for the first 3 years and twice a year during the next 2 years. CT is scheduled at 6 and 12 months after resection and is repeated annually there- after. Chest radiography is performed three to four times a year for the first 3 years and once a year thereafter, between the CT examinations. Conclusion. The follow-up programs used in clinical practice vary widely among institutions and doctors in terms of the types of examination performed and the frequencies at which they are performed. Key words Lung cancer · Postoperative follow-up · Postoperative surveillance · Recurrence S. Sawada (*) · H. Suehisa · M. Yamashita Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Shikoku Cancer Center, 160 Kou, Minamiumemoto-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime 791-0280, Japan Tel. +81-89-999-1111; Fax +81-89-999-1100 e-mail: ssawada@shikoku-cc.go.jp M. Nakata Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Kawasaki Medical School, Okayama, Japan N. Okumura Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kurashiki Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan K. Okabe Division of Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Yamaguchi Ube Medical Center, Yamaguchi, Japan H. Nakamura Division of General Thoracic Surgery, Tottori University Hospital, Tottori, Japan H. Tada Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Osaka City General Hospital, Osaka, Japan S. Toyooka Department of Cancer and Thoracic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Okayama, Japan H. Date Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan