Volume 1, Number 1

Nihal Shah MRCP FRCR MD Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Mount Vernon Cancer Treatment Centre, Northwood

Lung cancer is the leading cause of solid tumour deaths in England and Wales. Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of all lung cancer cases and 70% of patients present with locally advanced or disseminated disease. Their median survival is less than 12 months.1

Michael D Peake, Editor

Welcome to this, the very first issue of a new journal devoted entirely to lung cancer and mesothelioma. The scale of the problem posed by this disease is only too well known by those involved in caring for the patients and the statistics are regularly repeated.

Sally Moore MSC BSC(HONS) Macmillan Lung Cancer Nurse Specialist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust, London

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80% of all primary lung cancers1 and remains a major healthcare challenge. More than 60% of patients with the condition present with advanced disease (Stage IIIB or IV) and more than 80% die within a year of diagnosis.2

Ian E Smith MD FRCP FRCPE Professor of Cancer Medicine at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Chairman of the NCRI Lung Cancer Clinical Studies Group

The NCRI Lung Clinical Studies Group is one of the groups set up by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) to have a central role in the development of a balanced national research portfolio.

Thomas Nunan MD FRCP Nuclear Medicine Consultant, Clinical PET Centre, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust, London

The use of positron emission tomography (PET) scanning in lung cancer works on the principle that malignant tissues take up glucose radiolabelled with 18-F fluorine (FDG). Unlike glucose itself, phosphorylated FDG does not pass further down metabolic pathways within the malignant cells, which allows an image of FDG uptake to be taken approximately one hour after injection.