Usually, we encounter many patients who are found to have a chest mass after physical examination (chest X-ray or chest CT), and some of them have cough, hemoptysis (or blood in sputum), dyspnea, chest pain, chest tightness, etc. They do not know what department is the best to see. Less than 5 percent of patients go to thoracic surgery. In fact, did they make the right choice? The most common types of chest masses include: (1) lung cancer, commonly seen in men with a history of smoking, some with irritating cough or blood in sputum, but most are asymptomatic; the incidence of lung cancer in women has increased significantly in recent years, and most are asymptomatic, preferably in women aged 40-60, requiring vigilance; (2) benign lung tumors: common ones such as inflammatory pseudotumors, pulmonary malformations, papillomas Fibroma, smooth muscle tumor, chondroma, lipoma, hemangioma, etc., but the overall incidence is low and clinically asymptomatic; (3) pulmonary tuberculosis: most patients are asymptomatic; (4) pulmonary fungal disease: there are typical imaging manifestations and many patients are asymptomatic; (5) mediastinal tumors: mistaken for lung masses, etc. So what are the principles of treatment for these diseases? Generally speaking, as long as the mass is larger than 1.0 cm in diameter (some say 2 cm, which is inconclusive), it needs to be explored (surgery) to clarify the nature of the mass, whether it is malignant or benign. Generally, the smaller the mass is, the more difficult it is to confirm the diagnosis, which leads to patients doing all kinds of tests, but ultimately there is no conclusion, and many patients delay their condition, and if it is a malignant tumor, the consequences are often very serious. Therefore, in principle, these patients need open-chest exploration (surgical treatment), which can clarify the diagnosis on the one hand, and get timely treatment on the other hand, especially since many hospitals can adopt thoracoscopy at present, which has relatively little damage and does not need to adopt traditional open-chest. If the mass is benign, it also needs to be treated surgically. These benign masses can often turn into malignant tumors if left untreated; if the mass is malignant, it should be treated promptly. At present, many patients do not understand the relevant medical knowledge, and even many non-thoracic surgeons (including respiratory physicians, oncologists, tuberculosis specialists, etc.) do not understand the principles of treatment of lung masses, as long as patients see the doctor, they all think towards tuberculosis, lung inflammation, anti-inflammatory, anti-tuberculosis treatment is often ineffective (in fact, many are tumors), and finally there is no way to find a thoracic surgeon, if it is If it is a malignant tumor, this time has been delayed for a long time. Some patients, even though they have been examined by fibrinoscopy and other tests, consider lung cancer, and then seek medical attention from oncologists or respiratory surgeons (a small number of patients may be afraid of surgery), many doctors give chemotherapy, radiotherapy, anti-inflammatory treatment, etc. for the sake of economic benefits, and finally delay the disease. Especially at present, various hospitals, especially private hospitals, make a lot of advertisements, boasting that a certain drug can cure tumor, which is not realistic. At present, there is no drug that can cure lung cancer, no matter it is Chinese medicine or western medicine. I hope patients will not turn to doctors indiscriminately and take a chance. In fact, surgery is the only effective method that can cure early stage lung cancer at present. According to literature reports and our clinical experience, for lung cancer with small masses and no distant metastasis yet, the long-term survival rate after surgery is very high; for lung cancer in the middle stage or above, surgical treatment together with preoperative or postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy will have better efficacy for patients. If the growth of lung cancer cannot be controlled even after radiotherapy, chemotherapy and anti-inflammatory treatment in other departments, or combined with distant metastasis or combined with pleural effusion, finally there is no way to come back to the thoracic surgeon, then the thoracic surgeon will often tell you: “You have chosen the wrong department, it is recommended to go to oncology or respiratory medicine”, which means The opportunity for surgery has been lost. Combined with what has been explained above, I think you have an understanding of the principles of treatment for lung masses. Choosing to see a thoracic surgeon should be very helpful for the patient.