The following advances are under investigation in clinical trials and may not be approved or available at this time. Always discuss all diagnostic and treatment options with your doctor.

Personalized therapy. Research has identified specific characteristics of patients and their tumors that can predict whether a certain chemotherapy or targeted therapy may work. To collect this information, patients will increasingly be asked to undergo additional analyses of the tumor samples obtained at the time of diagnosis. In the majority of patients where chemotherapy is recommended, not enough tumor tissue was removed during the biopsy that was used to diagnose their cancer for these additional studies. These patients will be asked to undergo additional biopsies to help plan therapy and, if part of a clinical trial, to aid the research to discover better ways to fight lung cancer.

Targeted therapies. The future of lung cancer therapy lies in the development of targeted therapy. There are hundreds of new anticancer drugs now being studied both in the laboratory and in clinical trials.

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. Advances in all types of treatment will improve the ability of doctors to combine chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery for the treatment of patients with all stages of lung cancer.

Improved screening. Lung cancer is most curable in its early stages. This has raised interest in screening patients for lung cancer before it grows to the point that it causes symptoms. There are currently no proven screening tests for lung cancer. Advances in imaging techniques, such as low-dose, helical CT scanning, are currently under investigation, and may result in better methods to detect lung cancer early. In the future, molecules detected in the blood or sputum may suggest the presence of lung cancer before it shows up on a CT scan.

Reduced tobacco use. 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 reduce 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.