One of the current difficulties in the management of lung cancer is the decision to treat and the type of treatment to select. Thus there is a need for additional prognostic (indicative of disease aggressiveness) and predictive (indicative of likely response to treatment) markers for lung cancer. To conduct a successful prognostic and predictive marker program, several factors are required, including: a comprehensive database linking clinical, histopathological, treatment and outcome characteristics of each case, a collection of samples linked to the database that is suitable for the testing of candidate markers, and a multi-disciplinary, interdepartmental level of expertise in the management of lung cancer.