Do lung cancer resection rates have increased significantly in females during a 15-year period?
The resection rate is currently higher in females than males, and has significantly increased during the study period. The incidence in female lung cancer has risen but it is still below male incidence rates. It seems unlikely that one single factor has brought about this increase. With better education among medical practitioners and the public, more lung cancer cases have been considered for surgery by surgeons. There has been an overall increase in patients presented at MDTs involving thoracic surgeons. For whatever reason, it appears that many lung cancer cases in females had previously not been presented to surgeons prior to the introduction of MDT meetings practice guidelines. The development of MDT meetings throughout NI along with the close involvement of the Thoracic Surgical Unit from the inception of all MDTs seems the most likely factor leading to a change in lung cancer resection rates.
This study demonstrates that a panel of morphologic factors can reliably distinguish between low and high malignant potential SIST. Although patients with low malignant potential SIST have an excellent prognosis after surgical resection, the role of adjuvant treatment for high malignant potential SIST remains to be defined.