Recent molecular advances in the approach to early lung cancer detection and intervention.

Lung cancer is a major contributor to overall cancer mortality. Detecting lung cancer while it is still a localized process is a long-cherished goal for improving the outcome of this disease. Recent developments suggest that we are approaching this capability. We next have to think about how to implement a change in our approach to lung cancer management to derive the benefit of better detection capability. This is an area in which our growing understanding of lung cancer biology is providing clues on improving the inhibition of cancer progression.