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Am Fam Physician. 2022;105(5):487-494

Patient information: See related handout on lung cancer, written by the authors of this article.

Published online April 1, 2022.

This clinical content conforms to AAFP criteria for CME.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men and women in the United States; however, it remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and worldwide. The most common but nonspecific symptom of lung cancer is cough. Associated symptoms, including hemoptysis or shortness of breath, or systemic symptoms, including anorexia or weight loss, greatly increase the likelihood of having lung cancer. Referral to a multidisciplinary lung cancer team, imaging, and confirmation through sputum cytology, thoracentesis, fine-needle aspiration, or mediastinoscopy are recommended. If lung cancer is confirmed, treatment options vary based on staging, histology, immunotherapy biomarker testing, and patient health status. Treatments include surgical resection, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy. Family physicians should focus on primary prevention of lung cancer by encouraging tobacco cessation and early recognition by screening at-risk individuals and following guidelines for pulmonary nodules. As of 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual lung cancer screening using low-dose computed tomography starting at 50 years of age in patients with a 20 pack-year history.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and worldwide; in the United States, it is the second most common cancer among men and women.1,2 The majority of lung cancers are divided into two histologic types: non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; 84%) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC; 13%), which helps guide treatment.3 Smoking is closely linked to 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths, whereas radon exposure is a leading cause of nonsmoking-related lung cancer.4 Several guidelines address the management of lung cancer, with the goal of improving patient outcomes.5 In the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has developed clinical pathways that were last updated in 2019, whereas in the United States, the most recent comprehensive lung cancer guideline from the American College of Chest Physicians was last updated in 2013, with more recent treatment recommendations from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.2,68

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