In Brief for January 10, 2024

IASLC Celebrates 50 Years in 2024

With 2024 now under way, the IASLC has entered its 50th year. To recognize the many advances and achievements made possible by the international collaboration fostered by the association throughout the past 50 years, the IASLC has planned several anniversary celebrations for the coming year, including a 50th anniversary book.

The book includes a look back at the society as well as the field of thoracic oncology—where it was and how far it has come. Indeed, the IASLC grew from a need for collaboration to address thoracic malignancies. After recruiting more than 250 founding members from around the world, Drs. David T. Carr, Oleg S. Selawry, Lawrence Broder, Clifton Mountain, and George Higgins organized the first meeting of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in Florence, Italy, in 1974.

Ensure you receive the 50th anniversary book by reserving a copy today. And in the meantime, you can learn more about the history of the IASLC here.

Journal of Thoracic Oncology Transitions to Online Only

Beginning this month, the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO)—the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer—will be published exclusively online. Stay up to date on all the latest research by ensuring your IASLC membership, which includes a JTO subscription, is up to date. Visit JTO.org for:

• Immediate access to new content for journal subscribers.
• Article search by subject area or specialty
• Access to multimedia

JTO will continue to be a subscription-based journal that offers open access options. JTO is the primary educational and informational publication for topics relevant to the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of all thoracic malignancies. JTO emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach and includes original research reviews and opinion pieces.

Updated Recommendations Expand Screening Eligibility

In November 2023, the American Cancer Society (ACS) released an update of its lung cancer screening guideline. The revised guideline recommends yearly screening for lung cancer for people aged 50 to 80 years old who smoke or formerly smoked and have a 20-year or greater pack-year history. The guideline, last updated in 2013, is published in the ACS’s journal, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

“This updated guideline continues a trend of expanding eligibility for lung cancer screening in a way that will result in many more deaths prevented by expanding the eligibility criteria for screening to detect lung cancer early,” said Dr. Robert Smith, senior vice president, early cancer detection science at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the lung cancer screening guideline report. “Recent studies have shown extending the screening age for persons who smoke and formerly smoked, eliminating the ‘years since quitting’ requirement and lowering the pack-per-year recommendation could make a real difference in saving lives.”

How does the new guideline differ from the previously published guideline?