A traffic light approach for treatment and supportive care stratification in lung cancer

Comprehensive supportive care interventions for patients with lung cancer are being investigated in a range of ways, including: early palliative care, prehabilitation and rehabilitation. We review recent literature on supportive care and propose a traffic light system to individualise comprehensive supportive care. Green for those very likely to receive anti-cancer treatment, red for those very unlikely to receive anti-cancer treatment and orange where the chance of accessing treatment is uncertain. Comprehensive supportive care can be individualised based on the group a particular patient is in.

Lung cancer outcomes are improving with the availability of increasingly efficacious treatments; however, treatment rates for advanced disease remain low. In this review, we discuss how person-centred outcomes could be improved, how outcomes can be prognosticated and how the 'host' can be staged as well as the cancer. Recent data suggests that early comprehensive supportive care improves quality of life, reduces time spent in hospital and may affect survival.

Comprehensive supportive care is likely to improve quality of life in patients with advanced lung cancer. Further work is needed to see if it can improve treatment rates and survival.