Survival in Lung Cancer

Abstract

DESPITE a marked improvement in operative mortality^{1 2 3} five-year survival rates for primary lung cancer range between 4.1 and 9.6 per cent.^{4 , 5} This may be due to an inherent biologic tendency to early metastasis, to late diagnosis or to inadequacy of current therapeutic measures. Little is known about the natural history of bronchogenic carcinoma. Tumors vary in rates of growth and in invasive and metastasizing qualities.A major difficulty in the whole field of prognosis is the lack of a classification of lung cancer that would permit comparison of different series in the same manner in which cases of tuberculosis can . . .