General Treatment of Carcinoma
Approximately one third of patients with lung cancer are diagnosed with localized disease can be treated by surgical resection. Another third of patients have disease that has spread to lymph nodes. In such cases, radiation therapy used in combination with chemotherapy and sometimes surgery. The last third of patients may have tumors that have already spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream and usually are treated with chemotherapy and sometimes radiation therapy for relief of symptoms.
* Surgery is the primary treatment for patients with early stage cancer who have good general health. The goal of surgery is to completely eliminate all tumor cells and thus cure the disease. Although a tumor reappears after trying to remove it, often it can be removed with a second operation. Surgery is a possibility although there are multiple tumors or metastases, the tumors are always together on one site that the surgeon has access. Unfortunately, lung cancer tends to occur in smokers over 50 years of age, who often already have lung disease or other serious health conditions which increase the risk of surgery.
The location and size of a lung tumor determine the extent of surgery. Lobectomy, or removal of an entire lung lobe, is an accepted procedure to remove the cancer when the lungs are functioning. The risk of death is 3 to 4 percent, and tends to be higher in older patients. If lung function does not allow a lobectomy, a small cancer and confined within a limited area can be removed with a small portion of surrounding lung tissue. This is called a segmental or wedge resection. Patients lose less pulmonary function since it removes a smaller portion of the lung. The segmental resection is only for early-stage small cancers that are on the verge of lung and carries a mortality rate of 1.4 percent. If it is necessary to remove the entire lung by pneumonectomy, the mortality rate is 5 to 8 percent. Older patients are at greater risk, and is very common for the cancer coming back.
In most cases the patient is not eligible for surgery or can not remove the entire tumor because of their size or location. However, there are several other treatments available that can reduce the size of the tumor to make it easier to remove it, or in some cases completely destroy lung cancer.