National guideline systems
Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland maintain separate guideline systems for lung cancer care.
NTOG does not replace national guideline bodies. Instead, NTOG can support harmonisation by providing access to national guidelines, highlighting differences, and identifying areas where Nordic alignment may be useful.
This page provides direct links to each national recommendation, with an overview of scope, structure, and access.
National guideline sources
Official national guideline sources for lung cancer care.
Links to the Nordic national guidelines
NTOG links to each country's official national lung cancer guideline below. We do not restate or compare the recommendations — treatment guidance remains nationally governed. Where the Nordic community identifies meaningful differences, those become candidate areas for harmonisation, taken forward through the Nordic Lung Cancer Quality Indicator Bank and the NTOG Nordic common data elements.
Quality Indicator Bank
The Nordic Lung Cancer Quality Indicator Bank is a curated set of candidate quality indicators for the Nordic diagnostic pathway, grouped by screening, diagnosis, MDT and core outcomes. These are proposals for the Nordic community to prioritise — rating and discussion take place on LinkedIn, and agreed indicators feed the NTOG Nordic common data elements. Candidate indicators, not finalised standards.
View the Quality Indicator Bank| Country | Guideline body | Scope and structure | Access | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | Regional Cancer Centres, RCC | Integrated national care programme covering diagnostics, staging, MDT, surgery, radiotherapy, systemic treatment, palliation, rehabilitation and follow-up. | Open access | View guideline |
| Norway | Helsedirektoratet | National action programme for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of lung cancer, mesothelioma and thymoma. | Open access | View guideline |
| Denmark | Danish Lung Cancer Group, DLCG / DMCG | Modular national guideline structure with separate documents for diagnostics, surgery, radiotherapy, systemic therapy, SCLC, NSCLC, palliation and follow-up. | Open access | View guideline |
| Finland | Finnish Lung Cancer Group / FICAN | National treatment recommendation for locally advanced or metastatic inoperable NSCLC and SCLC, hosted in TerveyskyläPRO. | Restricted professional login | View guideline |
Key differences
- Structure: Sweden and Norway use unified national programmes, while Denmark uses modular disease- and modality-specific documents.
- Implementation: Sweden and Norway are closely linked to national healthcare pathways. Denmark is strongly specialty-group driven.
- Accessibility: Sweden, Norway and Denmark are openly accessible. Finland requires professional login.
- Granularity: Denmark provides the most subspecialised document structure. Sweden offers the most comprehensive single-programme format.
NTOG position
There is currently no single unified Nordic lung cancer treatment guideline.
NTOG can support harmonisation by providing access to national guidelines, highlighting differences, and identifying areas suitable for Nordic alignment.
Lung cancer screening and pulmonary nodule follow-up
NTOG members are working on Nordic collaboration in lung cancer screening and pulmonary nodule follow-up.
This work includes implementation of low-dose CT screening, management of incidental pulmonary nodules, and development of a Pan-Nordic approach to harmonised follow-up pathways.
Read more about Nordic lung cancer screening pilots and the proposed Pan-Nordic pulmonary nodule guideline: Lung cancer screening and pulmonary nodule follow-up.
Governance, authorship & citation
A collective NTOG position — Nordic clinical consensus, owned and maintained by the society.
Authorship. Developed and reviewed by the NTOG steering committee with contributing experts from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It reflects a Nordic overview and synthesis — not the opinion of a single author or vendor.
- Status: Nordic consensus overview — does not replace nationally governed guidelines.
- Version: 1.0 · published 2026 · next scheduled review 2028.
- Maintenance: reviewed by the NTOG steering committee; national guideline links checked at each review.
Contributors and the review record are maintained by the steering committee. Contact the Expert Network to contribute.
NTOG content vs interactive tools
This guideline content is authored and owned by NTOG (© Nordic Thoracic Oncology Group) as a Nordic consensus resource — the society's distinct contribution.
The interactive browser tools linked across this site are software powered by Vahtian, provided for education and research. They are instruments — not NTOG clinical recommendations, and not a substitute for this content or national guidelines.
Suggested citation
Nordic Thoracic Oncology Group. Nordic Lung Cancer Treatment Guidelines — national guideline overview. Version 1.0. 2026.
ntog.org/guidelines.html · A citable DOI under NTOG can be assigned on request.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a single unified Nordic lung cancer treatment guideline?
No. There is currently no single unified Nordic lung cancer treatment guideline; each Nordic country has its own national guideline system. NTOG supports harmonisation by providing access to the national guidelines, highlighting differences and identifying areas suitable for Nordic alignment.
How does NTOG support guideline harmonisation?
NTOG provides access to all the Nordic national guidelines and identifies areas suitable for Nordic alignment — including a Nordic Lung Cancer Quality Indicator Bank for community discussion. NTOG links to the national guidelines but does not restate or compare them; treatment guidance remains nationally governed.
Is NTOG working on lung cancer screening guidance?
Yes. NTOG members are working on Nordic collaboration in lung cancer screening and pulmonary nodule follow-up, including implementation of low-dose CT screening, management of incidental pulmonary nodules, and development of a Pan-Nordic approach.
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