Small cell lung cancer Paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes

Shame and guilt in lung cancer The stigma of lung cancer Dale Dirkse, BA (Hons); Janine Giese-Davis, PhD Abstract This 3-part Lung Cancer Supplement highlights progress in the management of lung cancer on the one hand, while reminding us of established challenges on the other. Ming-Sound Tsao, MD, FRCPC, sets the scene with a review of how molecular characterization has become the standard of care in non-small cell lung cancer. The molecular classification of solid tumours has been a recurring theme in the vision of personalized medicine in oncology. While estrogen and progesterone receptor analysis has been a basic part of breast cancer management for 3 decades, it is only recently that we have seen this paradigm achieve a sound basis in other tumours. Having lung cancer lead the way in this approach is simultaneously gratifying and surprising. In a succinct review of paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes, Nafisha Lalani, MD, and Anthony Brade, MD, FRCPC, shift the focus to small cell lung cancer. Again we are reminded that while progress is made on one front, much remains to be learned about other aspects of the illnesses — the interaction between malignancy and the immune system being one key area. Dale Dirkse, BA (Hons), and Janine Giese-Davis, PhD, address the issue of shame and guilt in lung cancer. They remind us of how these nebulous, easily dismissed clinical concepts have very specific, mainly negative, consequences for our patients.