About Lung Cancer Treatment

You may have heard about the staging of cancer. It simply means what development the cancer has made in the lungs and perhaps the rest of the body. It is a critical part of deciding how to treat the cancer. It also needs to be known in order to give an accurate prognosis to the patient.

Stages of Lung Cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has 1-4 stages in order of severity. The first is where the cancer is totally confined to the lung. The second and third stages are confined to the chest and have bigger and more invasive tumors. In the fourth the cancer has moved from the chest to other parts of the patients body.

What are the Treatments Available?

The treatments available for lung cancer are many and have varying rates of success. You can receive chemotherapy, surgical removal, radiation therapy and perhaps a combination of these. There are also many drugs that have been introduced into the arena that are now being used by medical professionals. You and your doctor will have to decide on the method of treatment after you know what they will do or not do.

Experimental Therapies

Today there are many, and there will continue to be many more, experimental procedures and medicines to treat cancer. The current methods are sometimes horrific to the patients and their families and researchers are continually trying to find new ways to stop this disease. Many patients will submit to trials of these new drugs rather than submit to the present methods that are not going to stop the advancement of their cancer. Many feel that a chance with something new is better than little or no chance at all.