b'and2016,however.UnlikeintheVHA,while theseincreaseswereobservedacrossdifferentTrends in baseline distributions at diagnosis racial and ethnic groups, survival rates remainedfor (A) stage, (B) histology and (C) race.inferior throughout the study period for non-His-panicBlackmenandwomendemonstratingtheApersistence of lung cancer racial disparities in the U.S., the authors wrote. 2That is in contrast to the findings at the VA, where,according to the more recent study, Survival rates for veterans with lung cancer who received health-care through the VHA increased significantly dur-ing the study period. This observation was made across all stages and histological subtypes and was coincident with the identification of a 68% relative increase in stage I at diagnosis and an 11% relative decrease in stage IV diagnosis. Further, compared to white Veterans, we observed Black Veterans with NSCLC and SCLC had better or similar survival rates, respectively BAuthorsoftheNEJMreportfromtheNational CancerInstitute,HarvardMedicalSchoolandthe UniversityofMichigancreditedthedecreasesto the then-recent introduction of recommendations for routine testing of molecular alterations in epidermal growthfactorreceptorandanaplasticlymphoma kinase, as well as commercial use of related FDA-approved targeted therapies.The VAauthorsagreedwiththatassessmentand suggested even more contributors, such as:1. increasing utilization of low-dose chest computed tomography (LDCT) scans for earlydetection,2. advances in biopsy techniques to increase theClikelihood of obtaining a positive biopsy andcorrectly staging patients at the time of initialdiagnosis (e.g., endobronchial ultrasound androbotic bronchoscopy guided systems),3. incorporation of nurse navigators to improve the timeliness of care,4. technological advances improving the safety of lung cancer surgery and radiation therapydelivery systems (e.g., minimally invasivesurgery and image guided radiation therapy),5. access to newly FDA-approved targeted therapies and immunotherapies, 6. better integration of palliative care for patients Source: Lung Cancer Survival Trends in the Veterans Health Administration. with metastatic lung cancer which has beenClin Lung Cancer. 2024 Mar 2:S1525-7304(24)00035-4. doi: 10.1016/j.shown to not only prolong survival, but alsocllc.2024.02.009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38553325.35'