New Year Message from the President of the Korean Association for Lung Cancer January 1, 2024 President
Kook joo Na

Dear respected members of the Korean Association for Lung Cancer,

I am very delighted and greatly honored to serve as the president of the Korean Association for Lung Cancer (KALC) in 2024, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to convey this message to you. At the beginning of the new year of 2024, which is the Year of Blue Dragon under the Asian zodiac, I hope that the new year will bring our members' families good luck and peace as well as the positive energy of the blue dragon.

The KALC has steadily striven to fulfill its function through playing a leading role in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of lung cancer, which is a dreaded disease difficult to treat, and is still the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. It has been almost 25 years since the KALC was established, and the KALC has continuously achieved remarkable development each year since its foundation. The KALC is composed of doctors, researchers, and medical professionals in various specialties and subspecialties who belong to diverse expert groups that specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. Despite the diversity in the composition of its members, the KALC has achieved remarkable progress and has evolved into a well-established, prestigious society, and it is undeniably clear that the excellent leadership of former presidents and officers and the active participation of all the members have played the most crucial role in its remarkable development.

In order to provide patients and the public with correct information about lung cancer, the KALC has been operating online Q&A sessions through a YouTube channel named 'Ask Anything about Lung Cancer', and has organized World Lung Cancer Day events. The KALC has also been engaged in various academic activities to present cutting-edge knowledge and research results on the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. In particular, it has held regular international conferences successfully.

A multidisciplinary approach is essential for achieving the best outcomes in the research, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer. Thus, we will continuously make efforts to form and maintain close connections between specialties related to lung cancer and appropriately coordinate multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary collaborations among experts of diverse areas of specialties so that the KALC will become a harmonious organization based on mutual consideration and respect for each other. Additionally, the KALC will make its own efforts to ensure that effective drug therapies that have developed remarkably through recent advances in medicine will become conveniently available for patients. We will also make efforts so that the KALC will be recognized as a trustworthy organization by the public and receive support from the public. To achieve this goal, the support and cooperation of all the members are primarily required. I sincerely ask for your active support and cooperation. I will always try to listen to and carefully consider the opinions of the members open-mindedly and will do my utmost together with the chairman in order to facilitate the academic and professional development of the members and further activate research activities on lung cancer.

I wish you good health, good luck and success in both your personal and professional pursuits in 2024.

January 1, 2024