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BACKGROUND The aim of ESCAP-2011-CPHG, promoted by the French College of General Hospital Respiratory Physicians, was to describe therapeutic strategies in lung cancer in the first 2 years after diagnosis, in a real-life setting. This article focuses on patients undergoing surgical management of a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS A prospective multicentre study was conducted in 53 French general hospitals. For each patient with lung cancer diagnosed in 2010, a standardised form was completed following each change in treatment strategy up to 2 years after diagnosis. RESULTS Overall, 3418 of the 3943 included patients had NSCLC. 741 patients (21.7%) underwent curative surgery (stage 0-II, IIIA, IIIB, and IV: 65%, 27%, 3% and 5%, respectively). The therapeutic strategy changed less often in surgical than non-surgical patients and average follow-up time was longer: 23.3 months (SD: 9.3) versus 10.4 months (SD: 9.5) for non-surgical patients. Among patients with a surgical first strategy (92.6% of surgical patients as a whole), 56.9% did not receive any other treatment, 34.7% received chemotherapy, 5.9% radio-chemotherapy, 2.6% radiotherapy. At the end of follow-up, 55.8% were still alive without any other strategy, 13.1% had died, and 31.1% had received at least one more strategy. Among patients with a surgical second strategy, 63% had received chemotherapy alone during the first strategy. CONCLUSIONS ESCAP -2011- CPHG assessed everyday professional practice in the surgical management of NSCLC in general hospitals. It pointed out the discrepancies between current guidelines and the therapeutic strategies applied in real life conditions.