Respiratory and sleep medicine
Lung cancer and pleural malignancy
Recognition and fast-track referral, staging with TNM 9th edition, molecular testing before treatment, stage-based management of NSCLC and small cell lung cancer, paraneoplastic syndromes and mesothelioma.
Tier 1Condition
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Australia. Five-year survival is only about 1 in 4, mostly because most people present with stage III or IV disease.
- Smoking causes most cases, but never-smokers make up a growing share, especially women and people of East Asian ancestry. These patients often have EGFR-mutant adenocarcinoma.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have roughly double the incidence and mortality, present later and receive less treatment. They are a priority group in the screening program.
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Sources
- Lung cancer prevention and diagnosis, and lung cancer treatment clinical practice guidelinesAU/NZCancer Council Australia
- Optimal care pathway for people with lung cancerAU/NZCancer Council Australia (developed through Cancer Council Victoria with the Victorian Government), 2nd edition, June 2021
- Lung cancer optimal care pathway: quick reference guideAU/NZCancer Council Australia, 2nd edition, July 2025
- National Lung Cancer Screening ProgramAU/NZAustralian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2025
- eviQ cancer treatments online (lung cancer protocols)AU/NZCancer Institute NSW
- NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Non-small cell lung cancerNational Comprehensive Cancer Network
- The IASLC Lung Cancer Staging Project: proposals for revision of the TNM stage groups in the forthcoming (ninth) edition of the TNM classification for lung cancerJournal of Thoracic Oncology (Rami-Porta et al), 2024
- Durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy in stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (PACIFIC)New England Journal of Medicine, 2017
- Osimertinib in resected EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer (ADAURA)New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Osimertinib after chemoradiotherapy in stage III EGFR-mutated NSCLC (LAURA)New England Journal of Medicine, 2024
- Neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy in resectable lung cancer (CheckMate 816)New England Journal of Medicine, 2022
- First-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab in unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (CheckMate 743)The Lancet, 2021
- Physiologic evaluation of the patient with lung cancer being considered for resectional surgery: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, 3rd edCHEST (Brunelli et al), 2013
- Segmentectomy versus lobectomy in small-sized peripheral non-small-cell lung cancer (JCOG0802/WJOG4607L)The Lancet (Saji et al), 2022
- Lobar or sublobar resection for peripheral stage IA non-small-cell lung cancer (CALGB 140503)New England Journal of Medicine (Altorki et al), 2023
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
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