Lymph Node Removal in Treating Patients With Stage I or Stage II Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES: * Compare whether a complete mediastinal lymph node dissection versus mediastinal lymph node sampling improves overall survival of patients with N0 or non-hilar N1 non-small cell lung cancer undergoing resection. * Compare these two methods with reference to identification of occult mediastinal lymph node involvement. * Compare the effect of these two methods on operative time and duration of postoperative complications, including chest tube drainage and length of hospitalization for these patients. * Compare the effect of these two methods on local recurrence free survival and local regional recurrence free survival of these patients.