Treatment for lung cancer depends on a number of factors, including whether it's non-small or small cell lung cancer; the size, location, and extent of the tumor; and your general health.



Many different treatments and combinations of treatments are available to control the disease and improve the quality of life by reducing certain cancer symptoms.

Treating non small-cell lung cancer
Non-small cell lung cancer may be treated in several ways, with surgery being one of the most common. Cryosurgery, a treatment that freezes and destroys cancer tissue, is sometimes used to control symptoms in the later stages of non-small cell lung cancer.

Radiation therapy and chemotherapy also may be used to manage symptoms and slow the progress of the disease.

Treating small-cell lung cancer
Small cell lung cancer spreads quickly. In many cases, cancer cells have already spread to other parts of the body when the disease is diagnosed. In order to reach cancer cells throughout the body, doctors almost always use chemotherapy.

Treatment may also include radiation therapy aimed at the tumor in the lung or tumors in other parts of the body (such as in the brain). Some people undergo radiation therapy to the brain even though no cancer is found there. This treatment, called prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI), is given to prevent tumors from forming in the brain.

Surgery
Surgery is an operation to remove the cancer. The type of surgery a doctor performs depends on where the tumor is in the lung.

• An operation to remove only a small part of the lung is called a segmental or wedge resection.
• When the surgeon removes an entire lobe of the lung, the procedure is called a lobectomy.
• Pneumonectomy is the removal of an entire lung.

Surgery is not always an option. It is part of the treatment plan for only a small number of people with small cell lung cancer.Some tumors are inoperable because of the size or location, and some people are unable to have surgery for certain medical reasons.

Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, involves the use of high-energy rays to kill cancer cells.

• Directed to a limited area and affects the cancer cells only in that area.
• May be used before surgery to shrink a tumor, or after surgery to destroy any cancer cells that remain in the treated area.
• Doctors also use radiation therapy, often combined with chemotherapy, as primary treatment instead of surgery.
• May also be used to relieve symptoms such as shortness of breath.

Radiation for the treatment of lung cancer most often comes from a machine (external radiation). The radiation can also come from an implant (a small container of radioactive material) placed directly into or near the tumor (internal radiation).

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body. Even after cancer has been removed from the lung, cancer cells may still be present in nearby tissue or elsewhere in the body.

• May be used to control cancer growth or to relieve symptoms.
• Most anti-cancer drugs are given by injection directly into a vein (IV) or by means of a catheter, a thin tube that is placed into a large vein and remains there as long as it is needed.
• Some anti-cancer drugs are given in the form of a pill.

Laser therapy
Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a type of laser therapy, involves the use of a special chemical that is injected into the bloodstream and absorbed by cells all over the body.

• The chemical rapidly leaves normal cells but remains in cancer cells for a longer time.
• A laser light aimed at the cancer activates the chemical, which then kills the cancer cells that have absorbed it.
• May be used to reduce symptoms of lung cancer -- for example, to control bleeding or to relieve breathing problems due to blocked airways when the cancer cannot be removed through surgery.
• May also be used to treat very small tumors in patients for whom the usual treatments for lung cancer are not appropriate.

See also

• Clinical trials and alternative treatments
• Causes and risk factors
• Prognosis
• Support