Lung cancer: let’s try for prevention and cure

Emphasising prevention and ensuring best practice through access to continually updated treatment guidelines are needed to improve outcomes

In this issue of the Journal, Mitchell and colleagues report a follow-up survey from Victoria on the management of lung cancer, 10 years after an initial survey in 1993.1 The issues of therapeutic nihilism,2 variation in management and poor survival remain, but it is encouraging that there are improvements. Moreover, the follow-up was until 2003 so that 5-year results after that time could be reported, and further advances have undoubtedly occurred in the subsequent decade.