Guideline registry — lung squamous cell carcinoma
Last verified: 2026-08-30. This registry records the exact source checked, not a timeless recommendation. Drug authorization, reimbursement, and living-guideline versions must be rechecked at the point of care. LUSC is covered inside NSCLC guidance; histology-specific constraints are extracted in the wiki guidelines page.
Current cross-setting sources
| Issuer |
Document and jurisdiction |
Version/date checked |
LUSC use |
Access and update rule |
| ASCO |
Therapy for stage IV NSCLC without driver alterations; international/US-centered |
Living version 2026.3.3, updated 2026-07-24 |
First and subsequent systemic therapy by histology and PD-L1 |
Living source; recheck before each treatment decision |
| ASCO |
Management of stage III NSCLC |
2022 full guideline |
Resectability, chemoradiation, consolidation, selected surgery |
[PMID 34936470](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34936470/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"}; ASCO lists an update as a 2025–2026 priority |
| NICE |
Lung cancer: diagnosis and management, NG122; England |
Published 2019; updated 2024-03-08; reviewed 2026-02-10 |
Open diagnosis-to-palliative-care pathway and links to technology appraisals |
NG122; drug links change independently |
| ESMO |
Early and locally advanced NSCLC living guideline; Europe |
Living web source checked 2026-08-30 |
Staging, surgery, perioperative therapy, unresectable stage III, follow-up |
ESMO living guideline; membership/access may vary |
| NCCN |
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer; United States |
Current professional guideline requires authenticated access |
Full pathway, including drugs and sequencing |
Verify version in NCCN account on decision date; do not infer current version from a secondary summary |
Version hazard
The indexed ASCO article is version 2026.3.1 ([PMID 42190141](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42190141/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"}), while the official living page was already version 2026.3.3 at this review. Cite the web version for current recommendations and the PMID for the archived publication; never silently combine them.
Screening and referral
| Issuer |
Recommendation checked |
Eligibility frame |
Important difference |
| USPSTF |
Lung Cancer Screening, 2021 |
Annual LDCT, age 50–80, ≥20 pack-years, current or quit within 15 years |
US preventive recommendation; symptoms leave screening pathway. Official source, [PMID 33687470](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33687470/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
| American Cancer Society |
2023 guideline update |
Annual LDCT, age 50–80, ≥20 pack-years, current or former smoking |
Does not stop eligibility solely at 15 quit-years. Official source, [PMID 37909877](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37909877/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
| CHEST |
Screening for Lung Cancer guideline/expert panel report, 2021 |
Programmatic LDCT with risk/benefit and implementation guidance |
Adds program quality, comorbidity, and nodule-management detail. Official source |
| NICE |
Suspected cancer: recognition and referral, NG12 |
Symptom- and imaging-triggered urgent referral |
Updated 2026-04-15; not a screening rule. Official source |
Pathology and biomarkers
Assay guardrails
- Report PD-L1 clone/platform, score type, percentage, specimen, date, and adequacy.
- Use companion/clinically validated assays as intended where feasible; validate any laboratory-developed test.
- 22C3, 28-8, and SP263 tumour-cell staining may be analytically similar in many samples, but predictive interchangeability outside linked indications is not fully established.
- SP142 tumour-cell staining is not numerically interchangeable with the other common assays.
- TMB should not independently select checkpoint therapy in routine advanced NSCLC under the 2024 CAP guideline.
- A negative plasma panel is not a negative tumour panel when shedding is low.
Staging, surgery, and radiation
Safety and supportive care
| Issuer |
Document |
Date |
Trigger/use |
| CHEST |
Central-airway obstruction |
2025 |
Symptomatic obstruction; multidisciplinary therapeutic bronchoscopy plus oncologic therapy. [PMID 39029785](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39029785/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
| ATS/STS/STR |
Malignant pleural effusion |
2018 |
Symptom-directed drainage, indwelling catheter, or pleurodesis according to expansion and preference. [PMID 30272503](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30272503/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
| ASCO |
Immune-related adverse events |
2021 update |
Organ-specific grading, hold/discontinue, steroids/additional immunosuppression, rechallenge. [PMID 34724392](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34724392/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
| ASCO/IDSA |
Fever and neutropenia outpatient management |
2018 |
Formal low-risk assessment; initial treatment/observation and reliable follow-up required. [PMID 29461916](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29461916/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
| ASCO |
Cancer-associated venous thromboembolism |
2023 update |
Prophylaxis and treatment; individualize for haemoptysis, thrombocytopenia, renal function, brain disease, and procedures. [PMID 37075273](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37075273/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
| Endocrine Society |
Hypercalcaemia of malignancy |
2023 |
Hydration, antiresorptive therapy, and selected calcitonin use according to severity and renal/cardiac context. [PMID 36545746](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36545746/){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} |
Explicit cross-guideline disagreements or mismatches
| Topic |
Mismatch |
Safe handling |
| Screening quit-years |
USPSTF uses ≤15 quit-years; ACS 2023 does not |
Apply governing program; record which rule and why |
| TNM |
NICE NG122 states recommendations were developed with AJCC seventh edition |
Map actual T/N/M descriptors before applying a stage label |
| Perioperative regimen |
Neoadjuvant-only and perioperative options coexist |
Do not compare hazard ratios across trials or assume adjuvant contribution |
| Molecular scope |
2018 molecular guideline predates many targets |
Use it for methods/tissue principles plus current therapy guidance |
| TMB |
Research associations versus CAP “do not use alone” recommendation |
Keep TMB investigational/context-specific |
| Access |
NICE appraisals can recommend or reject drugs differently from US guidance |
Separate evidence from jurisdictional reimbursement |
Update triggers
Recheck this registry when any of the following occurs:
- ASCO living guideline version changes;
- a perioperative or metastatic phase III trial reports OS or a regulatory decision;
- NCCN/ESMO/NICE updates the relevant NSCLC pathway;
- CAP issues its post-2024 molecular-testing update;
- tenth-edition TNM proposals begin;
- a biomarker receives companion-diagnostic status;
- a squamous ADC or KEAP1/NFE2L2-directed therapy changes standard care;
- national screening eligibility changes.
Registry quality checks
- [x] Official source preferred where available.
- [x] PMID used only after live PubMed verification in the 2026-08-30 audit session.
- [x] Version/date and jurisdiction recorded.
- [x] Living web version separated from archived journal version.
- [x] TNM-edition mismatch explicitly flagged.
- [x] Drug evidence separated from local authorization/reimbursement.
- [ ] NCCN professional version must be verified in an authenticated account at point of use.