Lung Cancer Surgery Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Lung Cancer Surgery Market is projected to expand from USD 6.72 Billion in 2025 to USD 9.19 Billion by 2031, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.36%. This market encompasses specialized surgical interventions such as lobectomy, wedge resection, and pneumonectomy, which are increasingly executed through minimally invasive methods like Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) and robotic-assisted systems to excise malignant tumors. Growth is primarily propelled by the escalating global incidence of lung malignancies alongside the broadening of early screening programs, which effectively detect a greater volume of operable, early-stage cases. For instance, the American Cancer Society estimated that there were 226,650 new lung cancer cases in the United States in 2025, highlighting the urgent and ongoing need for effective therapeutic procedures.

Despite these favorable trends, the market encounters a substantial hurdle due to the high frequency of late-stage diagnoses, which disqualifies a significant segment of patients from curative surgery. Because surgical resection is largely intended for localized disease, the common detection of lung cancer at advanced metastatic stages severely restricts the population suitable for these interventions. Consequently, delays in diagnosis serve as a major restraint on the growth of surgical case volumes and limit the overall potential of the market on a global scale.

Market Drivers

The swift integration of Robot-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (RATS) is transforming the procedural environment by delivering precision that exceeds traditional open thoracotomy and standard video-assisted methods. Surgeons are increasingly deploying robotic platforms for intricate lobectomies and segmentectomies, taking advantage of superior 3D high-definition visualization and refined instrument dexterity, which contribute to shorter hospital stays and faster postoperative recovery. This technological evolution is fueling significant volume increases, especially in international regions where adoption is quickening to address clinical needs; Intuitive Surgical reported in their October 2024 'Q3 2024 Earnings Call' that procedure volumes outside the United States surged by 24% year-over-year, with thoracic procedures specifically identified as a robust driver of this growth alongside general surgery.

Concurrently, the increasing global prevalence of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) acts as the central demographic force behind the market, generating continuous demand for curative surgical options. As lung cancer remains a dominant figure in global oncology statistics, healthcare infrastructures face mounting pressure to bolster surgical capabilities for resectable tumors; the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer noted in its February 2024 'Global Cancer Burden 2022' release that lung cancer continued to be the most frequently diagnosed cancer globally, representing roughly 2.5 million new cases. However, transforming this incidence into surgical volume depends heavily on effective early detection efforts, as evidenced by the American Lung Association's 2024 finding that only 16% of eligible candidates in the United States participated in recommended screening, highlighting a vast gap that, if addressed, would substantially elevate the number of patients qualifying for life-saving resections.

Market Challenges

The central obstacle facing the market is the widespread prevalence of late-stage diagnoses, which severely limits the number of patients eligible for curative surgical treatments. Procedures such as lobectomy and pneumonectomy are primarily designated for localized, early-stage disease where the tumor remains confined to the lung. Once a malignancy is identified at an advanced or metastatic stage, treatment protocols generally transition from surgical resection to systemic therapies like chemotherapy or immunotherapy, creating a biological constraint that places a hard ceiling on addressable market volume by rendering a large portion of the incident population medically unsuitable for surgery at the time of initial diagnosis.

This delay in diagnosis directly undermines market revenue potential by lowering the ratio of performed procedures to total disease incidence. According to data from the American Lung Association in 2024, roughly 43% of lung cancer cases in the United States were detected at a late stage, a phase where survival rates decline sharply and curative surgery is seldom a viable option. This statistic highlights a discrepancy between escalating cancer rates and surgical market growth; even as incidence figures rise, the market for surgical devices and robotics remains constrained because nearly half of the patient population requires non-surgical palliative care rather than operative interventions.

Market Trends

The integration of neoadjuvant and perioperative immunotherapy into surgical protocols is fundamentally altering resectability standards for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). By utilizing immune checkpoint inhibitors both before and after resection, surgeons can downstage tumors and eradicate micrometastases, thereby broadening the pool of candidates for curative outcomes and enhancing long-term prognoses. This shift in protocol is bolstered by recent clinical findings showing that combining systemic therapy with surgery produces superior event-free survival compared to chemotherapy and surgery alone; for instance, Oncology News Central reported in June 2025 that an updated analysis of the CheckMate 77T trial indicated the perioperative nivolumab regimen significantly improved clinical results, achieving a hazard ratio of 0.61 in favor of the treatment group over the placebo.

Simultaneously, a growing preference for parenchyma-sparing segmentectomy is revolutionizing the management of early-stage pulmonary nodules, shifting focus away from traditional lobectomy to maximize lung function preservation. This strategy is increasingly selected for small, peripheral tumors where sub-lobar resection provides equivalent oncological control while reducing the risk of postoperative respiratory morbidity and improving patient quality of life. The clinical validity of this tissue-preserving method is supported by real-world survival data; the Society of Thoracic Surgeons highlighted in a January 2025 press release that segmentectomy achieved a 5-year overall survival rate of 69.6%, confirming its status as a comparable and effective alternative to lobectomy for appropriate early-stage patients.

Key Players Profiled in the Lung Cancer Surgery Market

• Intuitive Surgical
• Medtronic
• Ethicon
• Stryker
• Karl Storz
• Olympus
• Richard Wolf
• Microsurgical Systems
• ConMed
• Zimmer Biomet

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Lung Cancer Surgery Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Lung Cancer Surgery Market, by Type:

• Thoracotomy (Lobectomy
• Sleeve Resection
• Segmentectomy
• Pneumonectomy)
• Minimally Invasive Surgeries

Lung Cancer Surgery Market, by End User:

• Hospitals
• Ambulatory Surgical Centers
• Others

Lung Cancer Surgery Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Lung Cancer Surgery Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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