Single Lung Tumor Contains 50,000 Mutated Genes

The National Cancer Institute's main thrust at control of lung cancer mortality has been a three-decade long effort to study the molecular mechanisms underlying lung cancer, that would, in turn, theoretically direct "molecular", "targeted" and most recently, "personalized" treatments, of the the disease. The demonstration that such an arsenal of molecular agents has to be aimed at a bewildering plethora of targets partly explains the dismal failure of the NCI's stubborn "whac-a-mole(cular)" focus.

During these same three decades, in the case of other solid-organ cancers, including cervical, breast, colon and prostate cancers, a strong emphasis on screening that leads to early-stage surgical treatment has yielded dramatic improvements in survival, whereas lung cancer survival has risen only from 12 to 15% during the same era. Demonstratation that CT-based lung cancer screening regimens lead to marked improvements in early stage detection and survival are currently imprudently disregarded by NCI epidemiologists who insist that the lung cancers cured following screening are probably "non-lethal". Meanwhile 160,000 Americans suffer and die of the dread disease each year.

Frederic W. Grannis Jr. M.D. of CA 2:53PM June 01, 2010