Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Despite evidence of molecular abnormalities in biological specimens, progress in this disease is hampered by the lack of diagnostic markers useful for clinical practice. The majority of patients with lung cancer are still diagnosed at an advanced stage, when prognosis is poor. This article reviews new strategies being studied for the early detection of lung cancer. These strategies involve new methods of imaging (including low-dose computed tomography [CT] scanning), DNA analysis, and proteomic-based techniques. These strategies have not only improved our understanding of lung cancer but show promise in offering better survival to patients with this deadly disease. Of paramount importance in the search for methods of early detection is the need for the identification of the ideal population to screen, a multidisciplinary approach, and validation of promising techniques.

中文翻译：

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早期发现和预防肺癌的新策略。

肺癌是美国癌症死亡的主要原因。尽管有生物学标本中分子异常的证据，但由于缺乏可用于临床实践的诊断标记，阻碍了该疾病的进展。当预后较差时，大多数肺癌患者仍被诊断为晚期。本文回顾了正在研究的早期检测肺癌的新策略。这些策略涉及新的成像方法（包括小剂量计算机断层扫描[CT]扫描），DNA分析和基于蛋白质组学的技术。这些策略不仅提高了我们对肺癌的认识，而且显示出为这种致命疾病的患者提供更好生存的希望。