[Diagnostic strategy and treatment planning in bronchial cancer]

In carcinoma of the lung, the treatment design and the prognosis are dependent on the histological type and anatomical spread of the tumor and also on the general condition of the patient. Evaluation of these parameters requires an extensive clinical staging program that is nonetheless slanted to the individual subjective status of each patient. We generally distinguish a standardized basic diagnostic procedure from a specialized, more detailed individual diagnostic procedure. The pretherapeutic diagnostic assessment also includes evaluating the risk of therapy for each individual patient, especially in the case of surgical intervention. Posttherapeutic complications should not cause any great problem if the risk factors have been carefully evaluated before treatment.