Staging and prognosis in lung cancer: making the complex accessible.

摘要: Long-term survival in lung cancer remains relatively dismal (1). With the exception of resectable patients with either minimal or no node involvement, selected locally advanced NSCLC, and limited disease SCLC, cure elusive (2,3). As we tease out those who may benefit from aggressive therapy, intricacies staging system appear to grow inversely proportional prospect using conventional therapeutic maneuvers. Therapeutic nihilists would argue that staging, such a setting, is largely irrelevant useless. However, nuances treatment hinge directly on appropriate staging. In addition, carefully defined constitutes common language for clinicians, particularly interdisciplinary setting which ideally required optimal cancer. For be meaningful, it must methodical, comprehensive reproducible. Otherwise, putative stage assignment meaningless.