NCCN updates the NCCN Guidelines for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer to include guidance on maintenance therapy, several new therapeutic recommendations for specific patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, and a revised staging system.
December 9, 2009
FORT WASHINGTON, PA — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently updated the NCCN Guidelines for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) to incorporate a new section about maintenance therapy, a number of new indications for specific therapies for advanced NSCLC, and the recently revised staging system for lung cancer. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
The updated NCCN Guidelines now include a description of maintenance therapy for patients with advanced or metastatic disease. Maintenance therapy refers to treatment that prevents a cancer from spreading after it has responded to initial treatments with chemotherapy (usually 4 to 6 rounds of treatment). This new section helps distinguish between recommended therapies for continuation maintenance versus switch maintenance.
Noteworthy updates to the NCCN Guidelines involving specific therapies for advanced NSCLC include:
The international staging system for lung cancer was recently revised and has been incorporated into the updated NCCN Guidelines. Staging provides the basis for evaluating a patient’s prognosis and is a valuable aid in the treatment selection of patients with lung cancer. The revised system more accurately reflects a patient’s prognosis and current practice. The new staging will affect one out of every six lung cancer patients and takes effect January 1, 2010.
The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ are developed and updated through an evidence-based process with explicit review of the scientific evidence integrated with expert judgment by multidisciplinary panels of physicians from NCCN Member Institutions. The most recent version of this and all the NCCN Guidelines are available free of charge at NCCN.org.