Staging of non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Adequate staging is necessary to avoid over- or undertherapy, and starts with the clinical examination of the patient. Hereby, further staging procedures can be rationally planned. The key imaging procedures are positron-emission tomography and computed tomography. Of increasing importance for mediastinal lymph node staging is endoscopic ultrasound added to mediastinoscopy. In this review, the proper use of these diagnostic tools, taking into consideration the new German guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, is described.