Scans - PET-CT, etc.

As a second part of a recent video I did that introduces the concept of a mixed response in lung cancer (or many other cancers) and how we might manage that situation, I wanted to cover the biology of what is presumably occurring.  Here's a video that covers this issue, as well as the implication that we can learn more about this by doing multiple biopsies, more than is considered as the typical standard now.

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The question of whether and how to use blood tests, and particularly serum tumor markers, to monitor the status of a lung cancer has come up often here.  There are a few places where we've covered this in text, but for those of you who would prefer a video format for your information gathering, here's a podcast I just did on that subject for Swedish Medical Center.

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePzQF6tFNZs[/embed]

Here's a brief video that explains my approach to a so-called "mixed response" to treatment for a lung cancer.  

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There isn't a formal teaching or "best answer" about how to approach this issue, but what I explain here is a common and I think very sensible strategy for a still controversial clinical setting (if I do say so myself).  I'd welcome your comments.

I hope you find it helpful if you or someone you care about faces this situation.

A post on About.com makes the case that screening the higher risk population of just those people 55-75 with a significant smoking history, as was done in the influential Na

Here are the 5 presentations at ASCO in stage I-III NSCLC and small cell lung cancer that I think are most interesting and relevant.  You'll note that several are "negative" trials -- blockbusters are hard to come by here -- but even trials that tell us what not to do are important.   And there are some hints of new approaches that could improve outcomes for patients.

Many people in the lung cancer world consider the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) that demonstrated a 20% improvement in survival from CT-screening higher risk people for lung cancer as a major advance in the field, befitting

This is the third and final part of Dr. Weiss's presentation on "Highlights in Lung Cancer, 2011".  After focusing on developments in relatively narrow subpopulations with distinct molecular markers in the first two parts of his webinar, Dr.

Here's the podcast from the recent webinar by Dr. David Yankelevitz, Professor of Radiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, on the subject of "Pulmonary Nodules: Evaluation and Management".

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), a protocol with over 50,000 former or current smokers between ages 55 and 75, justifiably became a major news story when the results demonstrated a significant improvement in lung cancer-specific and all-cause mortality of 20% and 6.7%, respectively.

A publication by Drs. Oxnard and colleagues from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center just came out in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that should remind all of us of the pitfalls of taking very small changes in measurements too literally.