Chest ACCP Career Connection
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Free
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Article Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Colice, G. L.
Right arrow Articles by Unger, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Colice, G. L.
Right arrow Articles by Unger, M.
(Chest. 2003;123:272S-283S.)
© 2003 American College of Chest Physicians

Follow-up and Surveillance of the Lung Cancer Patient Following Curative-Intent Therapy*

Gene L. Colice, MD, FCCP; Jeffrey Rubins, MD, FCCP and Michael Unger, MD, FCCP

* From Critical Care and Respiratory Services (Dr. Colice), Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC; Pulmonary Division (Dr. Rubins), Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Pulmonary Cancer Detection and Prevention Program (Dr. Unger), Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.

Correspondence to: Gene L. Colice, MD, FCCP, Washington Hospital Center, 110 Irving St NW, Washington, DC 20010; e-mail: gxc{at}mhg.edu

The following two distinctly different issues should be taken into account when planning patient care following curative-intent therapy for lung cancer: adequate follow-up to manage complications related to the curative-intent therapy; and surveillance to detect recurrences of the primary lung cancer and/or development of a new primary lung cancer early enough to allow potentially curative retreatment. Follow-up for complications should be performed by the specialist responsible for the curative-intent therapy and should last 3 to 6 months. Recurrences of the original lung cancer will be more likely during the first 2 years after curative-intent therapy, but there will be an increased lifelong risk of approximately 1 to 2% per year of developing a metachronous, or new primary, lung cancer. A standard surveillance program for these patients is recommended based on periodic visits, with chest-imaging studies and counseling patients on symptom recognition. Whether subgroups of patients with a higher risk of developing a metachronous lung cancer (eg, those patients whose primary lung cancer was radiographically occult or central and those patients surviving for > 2 years after treatment for small cell lung cancer) should have a more intensive surveillance program is presently unclear. The surveillance program should be coordinated by a multidisciplinary tumor board and overseen by the physician who diagnosed and initiated therapy for the original lung cancer. Smoking cessation is recommended for all patients following curative-intent therapy for lung cancer.

Key Words: lung cancer • metachronous tumors • recurrence • surveillance




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Ann. Thorac. Surg.Home page
R. Lai
Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration for Diagnosis of Recurrent Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer
Ann. Thorac. Surg., December 1, 2005; 80(6): 2346 - 2349.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Ann. Thorac. Surg.Home page
M. S. Kent, P. Korn, J. L. Port, P. C. Lee, N. K. Altorki, and R. J. Korst
Cost Effectiveness of Chest Computed Tomography After Lung Cancer Resection: A Decision Analysis Model
Ann. Thorac. Surg., October 1, 2005; 80(4): 1215 - 1223.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.Home page
R. J. Battafarano, S. D. Force, B. F. Meyers, J. Bell, T. J. Guthrie, J. D. Cooper, and G. A. Patterson
Benefits of resection for metachronous lung cancer
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg., March 1, 2004; 127(3): 836 - 842.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Ann. Thorac. Surg.Home page
T. Fujimoto, T. Okazaki, T. Matsukura, T. Hanawa, N. Yamashita, K. Nishimura, M. Kuwabara, and Y. Matsubara
Operation for lung cancer in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: surgical contraindication?
Ann. Thorac. Surg., November 1, 2003; 76(5): 1674 - 1678.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2003 by the American College of Chest Physicians.