Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
The choice of treatment depends mainly on the stage of the disease. Surgery is the usual treatment for patients whose cancer
is in only one lung or in one lung and the closest lymph nodes.
Patients who cannot have surgery because of other medical problems and patients with more advanced tumors often receive radiation
therapy. Radiation therapy is also the usual treatment for patients whose cancer has spread within the chest to more distant
lymph nodes or other tissues.
Radiation therapy is used to control specific symptoms. Some patients have both surgery and radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy is used to treat patients whose cancer has spread from the lung to other parts of the body. It has recently been
shown that chemotherapy enhances the effects of radiation therapy for many patients and is now used frequently with radiation.
Although it is difficult to control lung cancer that has spread, treatment can often shrink the tumors. This can help relieve
pain and other symptoms.
We are currently engaged in research to determine the best combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for treatment
of nonsmall cell lung cancer. Involved in a number of surgical advances for treating lung cancer, specialists at Jefferson
are also evaluating an experimental light treatment, called photodynamic therapy, for advanced nonsmall cell lung cancers.
Small Cell Lung Cancer
Small cell lung cancer may spread quickly. To be sure that treatment affects all cancer in the body, chemotherapy is used
in virtually all patients, even when the disease appears to be limited to the lung and nearby lymph nodes. Usually, chemotherapy
for small cell cancer includes a combination of two or more anti-cancer drugs.
Whether the disease appears limited to the lung, or not, treatment may also include radiation therapy to shrink or destroy
the primary tumor or tumors elsewhere in the body, such as the brain. Radiation therapy may also be used to treat the brain,
even without evidence of cancer, to prevent tumors from forming there. This treatment is reserved for patients whose lung
tumor has responded well to treatment.
Surgery combined with chemotherapy can also be part of the treatment for small cell lung cancer, in a limited number of cases.
