Doctors are working to learn more about lung cancer, ways to prevent it, how to best treat it, and how to provide the best care to people diagnosed with this disease. The following areas of research may include new options for patients through clinical trials [2]. Always talk with your doctor about the diagnostic and treatment options best for you.

Personalized therapy. Researchers are looking at specific features of lung tumors that can predict whether a specific chemotherapy or targeted therapy may be effective. To collect this information, patients will increasingly be asked to have additional analyses of the tumor samples taken when the disease was first diagnosed. In many patients for whom chemotherapy is recommended, the amount of tumor tissue removed during the biopsy to diagnose their cancer is not enough for these additional studies. These patients may be asked to have another biopsy to help plan treatment and, if part of a clinical trial, to help researchers find better ways to treat lung cancer.

Better techniques for surgery and radiation therapy. Doctors are finding ways to improve the effectiveness of surgical and radiologic procedures while reducing the side effects of these procedures. For example, a current study is comparing the removal of the cancer and the nearby lung tissue with lobectomy for early-stage NSCLC. Other studies are looking at video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which allows the surgery to be done through smaller openings in the chest, and stereotactic radiation therapy, which is used to focus radiation more directly on the cancer and spare health tissue. Advances in all types of treatment will improve doctors' ability to combine chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery for the treatment of all stages of lung cancer.

Improved screening. Lung cancer is more successfully treated in its early stages, which has raised interest in screening patients for lung cancer before it causes symptoms. Advances in imaging techniques, such as low-dose, helical CT scanning, are currently being researched, and may help find better ways to diagnose lung cancer early. In the future, molecular features in the blood or sputum may suggest lung cancer before it can be seen on a CT scan. Genetic testing to learn which patients have a higher risk of lung cancer is also being researched.

Stopping tobacco use [3]. Even with the best methods for the early detection and treatment of lung cancer, the best way to save lives from lung cancer is through programs to quit cigarette smoking. For most people, lung cancer is a highly preventable disease. Even for people with lung cancer, stopping smoking lets people live longer, lowers side effects, and lessens the chance of getting a second lung cancer. Quitting smoking is hard at any time, and even more so during cancer treatment. The health care team can help make it easier to quit smoking with nicotine replacement and other techniques. Research continues into new ways to help people stop smoking.

Supportive care. Clinical trials are underway to find better ways of reducing symptoms and side effects of current lung cancer treatments in order to improve patients' comfort and quality of life.

Learn more about common statistical terms used in cancer research [4].

Looking for More about Current Research?

If you would like additional information about the latest areas of research regarding lung cancer, explore these related items:

• To find clinical trials specific to your diagnosis, talk with your doctor or search online clinical trial databases now [5].
• Learn about the research announced at ASCO's Annual Meeting related to lung cancer [6]. 
• Read ASCO's latest Clinical Cancer Advances report [7], which highlights top research findings over the past year.
• Visit ASCO's CancerProgress.Net [8] website to learn more about the historical pace of research for lung cancer.

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