Glossary

The glossary explains some of the words used across this website and covers some key cancer and research terms, which primarily focus on lung cancer.

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Surgical resection

A surgical procedure in which a part or all of the lung is removed.16 See ‘Resectable tumour’

Survival (by stage)

Survival in lung cancer is usually expressed as the percentage of people who will still be alive 5 years from the point of their diagnosis. Survival is greatly impacted by the stage at which lung cancer is first diagnosed:17
  • stage I: 68–92% of people will still be alive after 5 years
  • stage II: 53–60%
  • stage III: 13–36%
  • stage IV: around 10%.
It is important to note these data are mostly drawn from high-income countries, in which access to early detection, treatment and care services is greater.18 See also ‘Advanced lung cancer’, ‘Early stage lung cancer’ and ‘Stage’

Symptoms

The main symptoms of lung cancer include a persistent cough, recurrent chest infections, coughing up blood, pain when breathing or coughing, breathlessness, fatigue and weight loss.19 There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of lung cancer. Symptoms normally develop as the disease progresses to a more advanced stage, typically after stage I or II.20 See also ‘Stage’ and ‘Late presentation’

References

  1. Oudkerk M, Liu S, Heuvelmans M, et al. 2020. Lung cancer LDCT screening and mortality reduction — evidence, pitfalls and future perspectives. Nature Reviews: Clinical Oncology: 10.1038/s41571-020-00432-6:

  2. Public Health England. Bowel cancer screening pathway requirements specification.  Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bowel-cancer-screening-pathway-requirements-specification/bowel-cancer-screening-pathway-requirements-specification [Accessed 27/04/22]

  3. World Health Organization. 2020. WHO report on cancer: setting priorities, investing wisely and providing care for all. Geneva: WHO

  4. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. 2021. IASLC Language Guide. Denver: IASLC

  5. National Health Service. About shared decision making.  Available from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/shared-decision-making/about/ [Accessed 07/03/22]

  6. Politi MC, Studts JL, Hayslip JW. 2012. Shared decision making in oncology practice: what do oncologists need to know? The oncologist 17(1): 91-100

  7. Ministry of the Environment: Government of Japan. 2019. Bequerel and Sievert. Available from: https://www.env.go.jp/en/chemi/rhm/basic-info/1st/02-03-01.html [Accessed 10/08/2023]

  8. Rudin CM, Brambilla E, Faivre-Finn C, et al. 2021. Small-cell lung cancer. Nature Reviews Disease Primers 7(1): 3

  9. National Cancer Institute. Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version. [Updated 04/03/22].  Available from: https://www.cancer.gov/types/lung/hp/non-small-cell-lung-treatment-pdq [Accessed 07/03/22]

  10. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries. Smoking cessation. [Updated 01/09/21].  Available from: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/smoking-cessation/ [Accessed 07/03/22]

  11. Cadham CJ, Jayasekera JC, Advani SM et al. 2019. Smoking cessation interventions for potential use in the lung cancer screening setting: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 135: 205-16

  12. Concannon TW, Meissner P, Grunbaum JA, et al. 2012. A new taxonomy for stakeholder engagement in patient-centered outcomes research. J Gen Intern Med 27(8): 985-91

  13. Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales. 2016. Implmenting a project: the role of a Steering Committee. Available from: http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ljf/site/templates/resources/$file/SteeringCommittee.pdf [Accessed 04/08/2023]

  14. Vrinten C, Gallagher A, Waller J, et al. 2019. Cancer stigma and cancer screening attendance: a population based survey in England. BMC Cancer 19(1): 566

  15. Hamann HA, Ver Hoeve ES, Carter-Harris L, et al. 2018. Multilevel opportunities to address lung cancer stigma across the cancer control continuum. Journal of Thoracic Oncology 13(8): 1062-75

  16. Cancer Research UK. Types of surgery. [Updated 23/10/19].  Available from: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/lung-cancer/treatment/surgery/types [Accessed 07/03/22]

  17. Goldstraw P, Chansky K, Crowley J et al. 2016. The IASLC lung cancer staging project: proposals for revision of the TNM stage groupings in the forthcoming (eighth) edition of the TNM classification for lung cancer. Journal of Thoracic Oncology 11(1): 39-51

  18. Allemani C, Matsuda T, Di Carlo V, et al. 2018. Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000–14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual records for 37 513 025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population-based registries in 71 countries. The Lancet 391(10125): 1023-75

  19. Lung Cancer Europe. 2020. 5th LuCE report on lung cancer: psychological and social impact of lung cancer. Bern: LuCE

  20. United Kingdom Lung Cancer Coalition. 2020. Early diagnosis matters: making the case for the early and rapid diagnosis of lung cancer. London: UKLCC