PLACE OF MASS RADIOGRAPHY IN RELATION TO LUNG CANCER IN MEN

Symptoms and Survival in Lung Cancer

From the analysis of 167 patients with lung cancer operated by radical resection at the National Cancer Institute of Milan and from the review of the literature, the authors reach the following conclusions: a) Prognosis of lung cancer is related to symptoms. Prognosis is better in asymptomatic patients and in those with long-term primary symptoms than in patients with short-term symptoms, or with clinical signs of mediastinal involvement or metastases. Symptomatologic classification is therefore useful also in a pretherapeutic phase. b) Although in asymptomatic patients there are better chances of cure, mass screening in asymptomatic people may be unsuccessful because of the limited number of asymptomatic cancers and the limits in radiographic diagnosis. This latter, in fact, even if rouled out in a preclinical phase, is not early. c) We need new epidemiological trends to improve both the effectiveness of mass screening and therapy in asymptomatic people.

The early diagnosis of lung cancer

Earlier diagnosis of malignant disease in the lung may bring about improvements in the treatment. This article discusses the effects of early diagnosis on the prognosis. Cancer of the lung may be associated with other lung pathology, thus increasing the problems of diagnosis. Diagnosis depends on radiological examination, cytology of the sputum, radio-isotope lung scanning and mediastinoscopy: an account is given of how these may be used to diagnose the condition whilst it is still at an early stage and suitable for radical treatment.