BRONCHOGENIC CARCINOMA

Abstract

Although the technic in thoracic surgery has been perfected to such a degree that at present there is no more risk in performing a thoracotomy than there is in performing a laparotomy, the death rate from carcinoma of the lung is still appallingly high. It appears that the two most important factors responsible for the decrease in curability are the tardiness on the part of the patient in consulting a physician and the delay on the part of the physician in arriving at a correct diagnosis. The former can be decreased only by a more widespread and effective education of the general public to increase the awareness of the gravity of any persistent pulmonary signs and symptoms and by mass periodic roentgen surveys of the lungs. The latter can be reduced by increasing the acuity of the already well established diagnostic procedures or by devising new methods that will aid