ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Lung cancer is the most frequent and the most lethal of cancers in both men and women in the Western world. Most lung cancers are caused by smoking; however, smoking appears to be a somewhat less important factor in adenocarcinoma, which is also on the increase. Lung cancer makes up 16 percent of all cancers in men and 13 percent of all cancers in women. Although early lung cancers (nonsmall cell T1, T2 N0 cancers) are curable by surgery with a 60-80 percent 5-year survival, only 6 percent of all patients with lung cancer survive for 5 years.
