The biology of lung cancer

The incidence of lung cancer continues to rise worldwide with major increases in incidence observed in Third World countries. Unfortunately, the overall survival of patients with this disease has remained unchanged in the past 2 decades. In spite of this, there have been major advances in understanding the biologic properties of both small cell and non-small cell lung cancer, including the definition of specific autocrine growth factors, molecular advances associated with the pathogenesis of this disease, and determinants of the mechanism of drug resistance. Here we review the most recently recognized important biologic properties of lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo and discuss the clinical relevance of application of these biologic properties in the management of patients with this disease.