There are many different types of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Treatment depends upon the stage of the cancer.
Surgery is the often the first line of treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer that has not spread beyond nearby lymph nodes. The surgeon may remove:
One of the lobes of the lung (lobectomy)
Only a small part of the lung (wedge or segment removal)
The entire lung (pneumonectomy)
Some patients need chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells and stop new ones from growing.
Chemotherapy alone is often used when the cancer has spread (stage IV).
It may also be given before surgery or radiation to make those treatments more effective. This is called neoadjuvant therapy.
It may be given after surgery to kill any remaining microscopic areas of cancer. This is called adjuvant therapy.
Radiation therapy can be used with chemotherapy if surgery is not possible. Radiation therapy uses powerful x-rays or other forms of radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation may be used to:
Treat the cancer, along with chemotherapy if surgery is not possible
Help relieve symptoms caused by the cancer, such as breathing problems and swelling.
Help relieve cancer pain when the cancer has spread to the bones
The following treatments are mostly used to relieve symptoms caused by NSCLC:
Laser therapy - a small beam of light burns and kills cancer cells
Photodynamic therapy - uses a light to activate a drug in the body, which kills cancer cells
Cancer Term:(malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth, invasion that intrudes upon and destroys adjacent tissues, and sometimes metastasis, or spreading to other locations in the body via lymph or blood. These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which do not invade or metastasize. Cancer-ar-foundation
