The Chinese Anti-Cancer Association has published a comprehensive guideline for the holistic, integrative management of cancer-related respiratory system injury, appearing in the journal Holistic Integrative Oncology. The document addresses a broad and clinically complex problem: the respiratory system is a frequent site of both primary and metastatic malignancies, and tumors can damage the lungs through direct invasion, airway obstruction, metastatic spread, and complications arising from anticancer therapies themselves.

The guideline opens with an overview of respiratory system structure and function before analyzing the mechanisms by which tumors cause respiratory damage. This opening section is intended to give clinicians a shared framework for understanding how malignancies injure the lung, whether through direct invasion, obstruction, or metastatic spread.

A substantial portion of the document is devoted to diagnosis and management of specific clinical entities. These include tumor-associated pulmonary infections, cancer-associated thromboembolism, airway obstruction, and respiratory failure.

The guideline places particular emphasis on the spectrum of treatment-related lung injuries. It covers pulmonary damage induced by surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, molecular targeted agents, anti-angiogenic therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

The document concludes with considerations for managing malignancies in patients who already have chronic lung diseases before their cancer diagnosis.

The overarching goal of the guideline is to standardize diagnosis and treatment strategies, thereby improving outcomes for patients with tumor-related respiratory system injuries through a multidisciplinary, integrated approach. The document is described as a synthesis of current evidence and clinical expertise.

The guideline was published as an open access article, making the full text freely available to clinicians and researchers worldwide. It is authored by a large team of researchers, with Meng Yang listed as first author and Bin Cao as a corresponding author.

The guideline's stated goal is to standardize diagnosis and treatment strategies for tumor-related respiratory system injuries through a multidisciplinary, integrated approach. The guideline describes its approach as holistic and integrative, aiming to standardize diagnosis and treatment strategies for these conditions.

Subject of Research: Clinical guideline for holistic integrative management of cancer-related respiratory system injury

Article Title: CACA guidelines for holistic integrative management of cancer-related respiratory system injury

Article References: Yang, M., Chen, M., Cheng, R., Li, Y., Tian, P., Gao, X., Huang, K., Xie, C., Zhang, J., Li, M., Liu, D., Pan, P., Guo, Q., Ju, C., Zhang, Y., Li, M., Xu, Z., Chen, Y., Cao, M., … Cao, B. (2026). CACA guidelines for holistic integrative management of cancer-related respiratory system injury. Holistic Integrative Oncology, 5(1), Article 91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44178-026-00300-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44178-026-00300-w

Keywords: CACA guidelines, cancer-related respiratory injury, tumor-associated pulmonary infection, cancer-associated thromboembolism, airway obstruction, respiratory failure, treatment-related lung injury, immune checkpoint inhibitors, radiation pneumonitis, chronic lung disease, multidisciplinary care, Holistic Integrative Oncology