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Since 1989, City of Hope National Medical Center (COH), located in Duarte, California, and a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, has prohibited smoking anywhere on the 100-acre campus. Because little published information is available on smoke-free campuses (SFCs), we investigated the attitudes of COH employees toward the SFC and attempted to answer the question of whether a difference in employee smoking behavior occurred and was attributable to the SFC policy. An anonymous survey was sent to all 2787 campus employees using both Web-based data entry and scannable paper forms. Employees with network access were contacted by e-mail and those without computers were contacted in person. Respondents were asked questions regarding their attitudes toward the SFC and about their smoking history and current smoking behavior. A total of 1356 responses (48.7%) were received. One hundred (7.4%) respondents were current smokers, 242 (17.8%) were ex-smokers, and 1014 (74.8%) were nonsmokers. Smokers and ex-smokers smoked a mean of 2.4 fewer cigarettes (95% CI, 1.8 to 3.1; P < .0001) on workdays than on days off, with evidence of a small amount of compensatory smoking (one cigarette per day). Of the smoking employees, 61.6% believed that the SFC reduced their cigarette consumption, and 42.2% quit smoking while employed at COH between 1989 and 2002. Of all respondents, 92.6% supported the COH SFC policy. High acceptance was consistent across gender, ethnicity, job type, and educational level. COH's SFC policy is strongly supported by employees and may decrease cigarette consumption and facilitate smoking cessation among smoking employees. This information may be useful to NCCN and other medical centers in assessing current and planning future campus smoking policies.

The use of positron emission tomography (PET) is increasing rapidly in the United States, with the most common use of PET scanning related to oncology. It is especially useful in the staging and management of lymphoma, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer, according to a panel of expert radiologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, medical oncologists, and general internists convened in November 2006 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The Task Force was charged with reviewing existing data and developing clinical recommendations for the use of PET scans in the evaluation and management of breast cancer, colon cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and lymphoma. This report summarizes the proceedings of this meeting, including discussions of the background of PET, possible future developments, and the role of PET in oncology. (JNCCN 2007;5(Suppl 1):S1–S22)

Most patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are diagnosed with advanced cancer. These guidelines only include information about stage IV NSCLC. Patients with widespread metastatic disease (stage IV) are candidates for systemic therapy, clinical trials, and/or palliative treatment. The goal is to identify patients with metastatic disease before initiating aggressive treatment, thus sparing these patients from unnecessary futile treatment. If metastatic disease is discovered during surgery, then extensive surgery is often aborted. Decisions about treatment should be based on multidisciplinary discussion.

These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on recent updates to the 2015 NCCN Guidelines for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Appropriate targeted therapy is very effective in patients with advanced NSCLC who have specific genetic alterations. Therefore, it is important to test tumor tissue from patients with advanced NSCLC to determine whether they have genetic alterations that make them candidates for specific targeted therapies. These NCCN Guidelines Insights describe the different testing methods currently available for determining whether patients have genetic alterations in the 2 most commonly actionable genetic alterations, notably anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements and sensitizing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations.

This selection from the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) focuses on the principles of radiation therapy (RT), which include the following: (1) general principles for early-stage, locally advanced, and advanced/metastatic NSCLC; (2) target volumes, prescription doses, and normal tissue dose constraints for early-stage, locally advanced, and advanced/palliative RT; and (3) RT simulation, planning, and delivery. Treatment recommendations should be made by a multidisciplinary team, including board-certified radiation oncologists who perform lung cancer RT as a prominent part of their practice.

Masses in the anterior mediastinum can be neoplasms (eg, thymomas, thymic carcinomas, or lung metastases) or non-neoplastic conditions (eg, intrathoracic goiter). Thymomas are the most common primary tumor in the anterior mediastinum, although they are rare. Thymic carcinomas are very rare. Thymomas and thymic carcinomas originate in the thymus. Although thymomas can spread locally, they are much less invasive than thymic carcinomas. Patients with thymomas have 5-year survival rates of approximately 78%. However, 5-year survival rates for thymic carcinomas are only approximately 40%. These guidelines outline the evaluation, treatment, and management of these mediastinal tumors.

These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on the diagnostic evaluation of suspected lung cancer. This topic was the subject of a major update in the 2013 NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. The NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on the major updates in the NCCN Guidelines and discuss the new updates in greater detail.