Nursing times
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Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death, accounting for nearly 30,000 deaths in England and Wales in 2002 (DoH, 2005). On February 23 this year new guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer were published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2005). The guidelines offer best practice advice on the care of adults who are suspected of having, or are diagnosed with, lung cancer (Box 1). There are implications for lung cancer clinical nurse specialists in several sections of the guidance, some highlighted as a 'key priority' for implementation.
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National Clinical published Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. In 2000 there were 38,410 new cases, accounting for 14 per cent of all cancers diagnosed (Cancer Research UK, 2004). While the incidence of lung cancer is less than that for breast cancer, lung cancer deaths account for more than one-fifth of all cancer deaths. In 2002 this amounted to 33,600 lung cancer deaths, or 22 per cent of all cancer deaths (Cancer Research UK, 2004).