Current treatment of the most common form of lung cancer depends on whether the cancer is confined within one lung or has spread to near-by lymph nodes or even distant organs, but does not take into account the size and metabolic activity of the cancer either in its original site or in lymph nodes or other organs. PET/CT scans provide tumor metabolic volume information, which we will use to develop a new staging method for doctors to use in determining more appropriate treatment for lung cancer. Our new staging method with tumor metabolic volume information can potentially lead to better cancer-treatment outcomes, thereby benefiting many patients
who suffer from this most common form of cancer in the world.