We reviewed 147 cases of primary carcinoma of the lung between January 1975 and December 1986 at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Department, Yonsei university College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. There were 116 males and 31 females with 93.72% ranging in age from 40 to 69 years. The mean age was 61.01 years. To 69 years of age with 61.01 years of mean age. There were 92 [62.59%] cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 29 [19.73%] cases of adenocarcinoma, 8 [5.44%] cases of undifferentiated large cell carcinoma, 8 [5.44%] cases of undifferentiated small cell carcinoma and 10 [6.8%] cases of bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma. 50 [34.01%] patients in stage I and 49 [33.26%] patients in stage II underwent pneumonectomies and lobectomies with a 67.27% rate of resection, where as only 49.12% of stage III patients were resected. Also 7 [30.43%] of the 23 stage IV cases were surgically resected and confirmed stage IV after surgical resection. The actuarial survival rate according to classification are as follows. The one and 3 year survival rate of the patients in stage I were 96% and 84% respectively. The one and `3 year survival rate of the patients in stage II were 100% and 66.6%, whereas the one and 3 year survival rate of the patients in stage III, T3 were 78.57% and 69.84%. The survival rates of patients in stage I, II, III T3 were better than those of the other stages. There were significant differences in observed survival for patients with stage II as compared with the patients with stage Ill, T3. [p=0.0005]. An aggressive surgical approach still offered the greatest chance for long-term survival even in stage Ill, T3. The survival rate in patients with resectable cases including stage III, T3 might be improved with an aggressive surgical approach. The one and 3 year survival rates of patients in stage III, N2 were 56.67% and 43.7 I%. The one and 3 year survival rates of patients in stage IV were 21.43% and 3.57%. Patients in stage III, N2 or IV had markedly decreased survival rates. When the carcinoma cell type was the basis for the determination of rate of survival, the result were as follows; The one, 3 and 5 year survival rates of squamous cell carcinoma were 78.33%, 60.19%, and 57.32%, and the one and 3 year survival rates of adenocarcinoma were 55.56% and 44.49%. The survival rates of large cell carcinoma were 66.67%, and 44.45%, at one, three and five years respectively. The one and 3 year survival rates of bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma were 71.43% and 47.62%, the one, 3 and 5 year survival rates of small cell carcinoma were 40%, 20% and 20%. The survival rate of squamous cell carcinoma was better than that of other cell carcinomas, the survival rate of small cell carcinoma was the worst. The operative mortality rate was 1.36%. There were 10 cases of post-operative complications including 2 cases of bleeding which required further surgery, 2 cases of wound infection, and 4 cases of empyema thoracis. The length of survival of three of the empyema thoracis cases was 16, 98 and 108 months respectively, Four male patients all older than 47 years survived more than 9 years, post surgery, although one developed empyema thoracis. These four cases were initially classified as 2 cases of stage I and one each of stage II and stage III, T3. We have concluded that the survival rates of patients in stages I, II and III, T3 were improved after complete surgical resection.