Reproducibility of guidelines - A comparison of the NCCN and ASCO lung cancer guidelines

Clinical practice guidelines are reproducible if two groups of experts, pre sented with the same evidence and methods, derive similar recommendations.. Reproducibility is an essential attribute in justifying the use of clinica l practice guidelines to guide and monitor physicians' practices. This arti cle will compare guidelines for the management of advanced nonsmall-cell lu ng cancer developed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) wit h guidelines derived by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). T his comparison aims to determine whether the two guidelines are similar or whether there are major differences that pose significant problems for clin icians attempting to manage patients according to one oncology standard.