We are pleased to announce that the Special Section "Controversies on Lung Cancer: Pros and Cons" chaired by Prof. Suresh Senan and Prof. Helmut H. Popper, is first launched in the August Issue (Vol 4, No 4) of the journal Translational Lung Cancer Research.
Aim
This special section will run regularly in each of the upcoming issues of TLCR, with an aim to provide an in-depth forum for the discussion of controversial topics in the field of lung cancer. In the era of personalized medicine, a critical appraisal of new developments and controversies is essential in order to derive tailored approaches. Clinicians can benefit from critical discussions that highlight the pros and cons of new findings or existing controversies. In addition to its educative aspect, it is expected these discussions help younger researchers to refine their own research strategies.
Format
TLCR will identify suitable topics, and inviteauthors to summarize the main arguments for and against aparticular viewpoint. However, proposals for topics can alsobe submitted directly by our readers to the editors. Each viewpoint maybe authored by up to two authors. Pro-con debates will besubmitted in two stages, with the second ‘Rebuttal’ piecebeing more concise, with a shorter word limit.
Current Topics with Authors
We are honored to have Prof. Suresh Senan (the Netherlands) and Prof. Helmut H. Popper(Austria) as the Section Chairs, who will organize and supervise this special section.
The first debated topic with pro-con authors:
Should Long-term CT scan follow-up be the standard of care in patients who are curatively treated for an early-stage non-small cell lung cancer?”
Pros: Waël C. Hanna. Division of Thoracic Surgery McMaster University, St Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Cons: Jan P van Meerbeeck, Halil Sirimsi.Thoracic Oncology, MOCA, University Hospital Antwerp, Belgium
The second debated topic with pro-con authors:
Should a medically inoperable patient with a T2N0M0 non-small cell lung cancer central in the lung hilus be treated using SBRT?
Pros: Katrina Woodford, SashendraSenthi, William Buckland Radiotherapy Centre, The Alfred, Australia.
Cons: Ursula Nestle, Department of Radiation Oncology and Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg (partner site Freiburg), Germany José Belderbos, Department of Radiation Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
More topics will feature in TLCR’s future issues. The debates are not confined to the authors, for they are open to the global readers who are interested in the topics. Any viewpoint, suggestion or letter to the editor, from readers of these debates are also welcome. It is our goal to establish a creative forum for interesting round-table discussions on a controversial topic, so as to move forward the management of lung cancer in both clinical and academic research.
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| Suresh Senan, MRCP, FRCR, PhD, Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Helmut H. Popper, MD, Prof. of Pathology, Department of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 25, Graz 8036, Austria. |