[Progress and prospect in basic and clinical lung cancer researches]

After looking back upon the progress in both basic and clinical lung cancer researches in the past twenty-some years, what is to come in the future was anticipated. In the diagnostic field, interpretation of chest X-ray films became more accurate, scraping cytology for peripheral carcinoma was developed, and then fiberoptic bronchoscope was devised, all of which contributed to more accurate diagnosis of lung cancer. In lung cancer therapy, extended surgery and bronchoplasty were introduced, resulting in an increase in the 5 year survival rate. Chemotherapy for small cell carcinoma was much improved. Pathologically, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the peripheral type appear to have increased in incidence. In the field of basic research, both K-ras and myc-oncogenes were found to be amplified in a case of giant cell carcinoma. Several human monoclonal antibodies were produced, each of which has some interesting characteristics. In the future, the results of basic researches will be applied to prevention, diagnosis and therapy, hopefully reducing the morbidity and mortality of lung cancer.