PROGNOSTIC MARKERS IN RESECTABLE NONSMALL CELL LUNG-CANCER

Numerous prognostic factors have been identified in patients with rese ctable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which may enable stratificat ion of patients into subsets indicating risk of recurrence following c omplete resection. Such prognostic markers include a variety of clinic o-pathologic factors such as tumor size, nodal status, and histopathol ogic variables. Several serum tumor markers have also proven useful. M oreover, a wide variety of; molecular markers have been described over the last decade, which can be classified as molecular genetic markers , metastatic propensity markers, differentiation markers, and prolifer ation markers. This article reviews those prognostic markers most like ly to prove clinically useful from the perspective of guiding postrese ction treatment strategies in early stage NSCLC.