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Review
. 2021 Nov;21(6):e578-e583.
doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2021-0657.

Lung cancer for the non-respiratory physician

Emma O'Dowd  1 , Joe Mackenzie  2 , Haval Balata  3
Affiliations
Review

Lung cancer for the non-respiratory physician

Emma O'Dowd et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer death globally. Delayed diagnosis is a major contributing factor to poor outcomes and remains a key challenge to overcome. While debate around the implementation of lung cancer screening for asymptomatic high-risk individuals continues, rapid access to relevant diagnostic tests is essential. The new National Optimal Lung Cancer Pathway describes 'diagnostic standards of care' in an effort to implement best practice, reduce variation and improve delays in diagnosis, staging and treatment of lung cancer. Lung cancer treatment continues to develop with new surgical techniques, radiotherapy options and more drugs being licensed as part of standard treatment. We provide an overview of the core lung cancer diagnostic steps, recognition and management of acute presentations as well as the latest treatment options.

Keywords: DSOCs; diagnostic standards of care; diagnostics; lung cancer.

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Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Overall survival by clinical stage according to International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 8th edition staging. Adapted with permission from Goldstraw P, Chansky K, Crowley J et al. The IASLC Lung Cancer Staging Project: Proposals for revision of the TNM stage groupings in the forthcoming (eighth) edition of the TNM classification for lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol 2016;11:39-51.
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Adverse events side effects associated with cancer immunotherapy. Adapted with permission from Wakabayashi G, Lee Y-C, Luh F et al. Development and clinical applications of cancer immunotherapy against PD-1 signaling pathway. Journal of Biomedical Science 2019;26:96 under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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