To ascertain the frequency of disturbance of the stage character of regional metastasis in lung carcinoma complicated by disintegration or obstructive pneumonitis, and its influence on certain results of surgical treatment, the authors analysed the data on 175 patients who underwent lung resection. The stage character of regional lymphogenous metastasis was found to be disturbed in 61 (34.8%) patients, in 52 (85.2%) of them the main disease was complicated by obstructive pneumonitis. Five-year survival in the group of patients without disturbance of the stage character of metastasis was 28 +/- 4.8%, which was significantly greater than that in the group of patients with a disturbed stage character (15.5 +/- 5.2%).