Lung Cancer

TREATMENT OPTIONS

Surgery

Surgery is the best form of treatment of non-small cell lung cancer when the disease is small. This basically involves stage I and II diseases as outlined above.

The typical operation for non-small cell lung cancer is a thoracotomy with lobectomy, which is an incision made between the ribs into which a special device is inserted by the surgeon, to spread the ribs apart enough so that one lobe of the lung can be removed.

This type of surgery is effective in curing lung cancer when it is small and when there is no spread. If there are any surgical findings that would suggest the possibility that the cancer may have spread, then postoperative treatment with radiation or chemotherapy is recommended.

Radiation

Radiation therapy is given for lung cancer when the disease has spread beyond the confines of the lung. Sometimes radiation is given after surgery because of concerns regarding involvement of lymph nodes or surgical margins.

In other cases, radiation therapy is given in lieu of surgery. These patients have so-called “inoperable lung cancer.”

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is getting more and more effective for non-small cell lung cancer, but still cannot cure patients. Chemotherapy therefore is, usually given in conjunction with radiation therapy. Commonly used drugs include 5-FU and Cisplatin. A number of other drugs also show activity in non-small cell lung cancer, and promising results are being seen with newer agents such as Taxol and Gemcitabine.