| The most commonly used treatments for lung cancer | | | | of the body, chemotherapy and radiotherapy replace |
| are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. The exact | | | | surgery as the main treatment options. A number of |
| treatment a lung cancer patient receives will depend | | | | drugs are available, and many more are being tested |
| on several factors. These include the type of cancer, | | | | in clinical trials. Radiotherapy is palliative, and while it |
| the stage or extent to which it has spread at the | | | | may ease symptoms such as pain and cough, it will |
| time of diagnosis, and the overall health of the | | | | not stop cancer growth. If the cancer obstructs a |
| patient. | | | | major airway, using a laser, freezing the tumor or |
| Non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for about | | | | keeping the airway open with a stent or tube may |
| 80 percent of lung cancer cases, is treated depending | | | | remove the obstruction. |
| on its stage at diagnosis. Lung surgery is the | | | | Small cell lung cancer, which is found in about 20 |
| mainstay of treatment for the early stages of lung | | | | percent of lung cancer patients, is more aggressive |
| cancer. Cancerous tissue, along with a margin of | | | | and more likely to have spread by the time of |
| healthy tissue, is removed. Patients who are unable | | | | diagnosis. It is therefore treated primarily with |
| to have surgery may be treated with radiotherapy. | | | | chemotherapy. Radiotherapy to the chest may also |
| While cure rates for early lung cancer are good, it is | | | | be used to kill off remaining cancer cells. This type of |
| rarely detected in its early stages. As non-small cell | | | | cancer often spreads to the brain. This is why |
| cancer spreads within the chest, it is treated with | | | | radiotherapy to the brain may be used as a |
| some combination of surgery, chemotherapy and | | | | prophylactic even if no cancer is detected in the |
| radiotherapy. Once cancer has spread to other parts | | | | brain. |