Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer – General Informations

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer – Symptoms

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer – Treatment

Because the cancer is classified into groups, the treatment is applied different, depending on the stage and group of the disease. The treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer consists in several types of medication, depending on the group of the cancer. It includes chemotherapy, chemoprevention, radiation therapy, radiosurgery, cryosurgery, photodynamic therapy or laser therapy, and other drugs. Chemotherapy consists in drugs, which are used to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken orally, or it may be put into the body IV, by a needle in the vein or muscle. Because the chemotherapy drugs enters the bloodstream, travels through all the body, and kill any cancer cell, but outside the lungs, it is called a systemic treatment. Chemoprevention uses drugs to prevent a second cancer from occurring. Radiation therapy consists in using high-energy x-rays to kill Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer cells and, depending of the stage of the cancer, shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body, and it is called external radiation therapy, or from putting materials that produce radiation, usually radioisotopes, through thin plastic tubes in the area where the cancer cells are found, and it is called internal radiation therapy. The newest type of radiation therapy is called radiosurgery. In this kind of therapy, radiation is directly focused on the tumor, and involves as little normal tissue as possible. Radiosurgery is usually used as treatment of tumors that are localized in the brain. Cryosurgery consists in freezing the tumor and killing it. Photodynamic therapy uses a certain type of light in combination with a special chemical, which leads to killing cancer cells. Laser therapy uses a narrow beam of light, also to kill cancer cells. Cryosurgery and photodynamic therapy are usually used in clinical trials. These treatments, including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are used to treat Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, but not always, it cure the disease.

Patients who are suffering with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer are divided into three groups, depending on the stage of the cancer and the treatment that is planned to be applied. The first group (stages 0, I, and II) includes patients whose cancers can be taken out by surgery. By taking out only a small part of the lung, the doctor is performing an operation called wedge resection. When the surgeon takes out a whole section of the lung, or a lobe, the operation is called lobectomy, and when one whole lung is taken out, it is called a pneumonectomy. If one of the patient in this group has another medical problem, radiation therapy can be applied. Like surgery, radiation therapy is called local treatment because it works only on the cells in the area being treated. The second group of patients has lung cancer that has spread to nearby tissue or to lymph nodes. On these patients is applied a combination of treatments for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, including radiation therapy alone or with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, or chemotherapy alone. The third group of patients has lung cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Radiation therapy is used to shrink the cancer and relieve the pain.