Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer in the world and accounts for 1.6 million cancer related deaths every year. Although there is no direct cause for lung cancer, tobacco smoke is one of the most common risk factors in addition to previous exposure to carcinogens and family history.
Most lung cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage due to the absence of clinical symptoms and effective screening methods. There are two different categories of lung cancer; small cell (SCLC) and non-small cell (NSCLC), with the latter being the most common type of cancer and represents around 85% of all new lung cancer cases. Significant progress has been made in lung cancer therapies such as the recent developments in tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and immunotherapy that improve both patient survival and quality of life.
1st August 2021 marks World Lung Cancer Day to raise awareness of the challenges and threats that lung cancer poses around the world, and to celebrate the new research into diagnosis and treatment breakthroughs which could hopefully one day lead to a cure for this devastating disease.
The Editors of BMC Medicine are delighted to share with you a selection of key papers that highlight some of the most recent lung cancer research published in the journal to mark the Lung Cancer Awareness Day.