Monitoring

Your Organisational Guidance

ebpracticenet urges you to prioritise the following organisational guidance:

Kleincellige en niet-kleincellige longkanker: diagnose, behandeling en opvolgingPublished by: KCELast published: 2013Cancer du poumon à petites cellules et non à petites cellules : diagnostic, traitement et suiviPublished by: KCELast published: 2013

After potentially curative treatment for lung cancer, patients should be followed regularly to assess for disease recurrence and treatment-related toxicity.[286]

Following radiotherapy patients may develop inflammation of the lung, termed pneumonitis. This is rarely lethal but may require treatment. Chemotherapy can depress blood counts, leading to anaemia with fatigue and dyspnoea, thrombocytopenia (bleeding), and/or neutropenia (infection). Blood counts need to be monitored until they recover. A history and physical examination should be performed every 4-6 months for the first 2 years and annually thereafter. Imaging of the chest (chest x-ray or computed tomography) should be performed on a similar schedule.[287]

For patients with metastatic disease who have completed palliative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, similar follow-up is recommended. The optimal follow-up schedule has not been defined.

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