Lung Cancer: Treatments

How is lung cancer treated?

Treatment of lung cancer begins with seeking regular medical care throughout your life. Regular medical care allows your health care professional to best evaluate symptoms, such as chronic cough, and your risks of developing lung cancer, and promptly order diagnostic testing. These measures greatly increase the chances of detecting lung cancer in its earliest, most curable stage.

The goal of lung cancer treatment is to permanently cure the cancer or to bring about a complete remission of the disease. Remission means that there is no longer any sign of the disease in the body, although it may recur or relapse later. Lung cancer treatment plans use a multifaceted approach that is individualized to the type of lung cancer and the stage of advancement; your age, medical history, and coexisting diseases or conditions; and other factors.

Lung cancer treatment may include an individualized combination of:

• Chemotherapy in early or late-stage lung cancer. In end-stage lung cancer, chemotherapy may be used only to help shrink the tumor to relieve symptoms

• Dietary counseling to help people with cancer maintain their strength and nutritional status

• Pain medications

• Palliative care to improve the overall quality of life for families and patients with serious diseases

• Participation in a clinical trial to test promising new therapies and treatments for lung cancer

• Physical therapy to help strengthen the body, increase alertness, reduce fatigue, and improve functional ability during and after cancer treatment

• Radiation therapy in early-stage or late-stage lung cancer

• Quitting smoking to help slow or stop the growth of a lung cancer tumor

• Supplemental oxygen

• Surgery to remove the cancerous tumor and possibly all or part of a lung, which is generally most effective during the earliest stage of lung cancer

Complementary treatments

Some complementary treatments may help some people to better deal with lung cancer and its treatments. These treatments, sometimes referred to as alternative therapies, are used in conjunction with traditional medical treatments. Complementary treatments are not meant to substitute for full medical care.

Complementary treatments may include:

• Acupuncture

• Massage therapy

• Yoga 

Hospice care

In cases in which lung cancer has progressed to an advanced stage and has become unresponsive to treatment, the goal of treatment shifts away from curing the disease and focuses on treating the person. The goal of hospice care is to help people in the last phases of an incurable disease to live as fully and comfortably as possible. Hospice care involves medically controlling pain and other symptoms while providing psychological and spiritual support as well as services to support the patient’s family.

What are the potential complications of lung cancer?

Complications of lung cancer are life threatening. Complications are caused by an abnormally rapid growth of old or damaged cells. These cells can travel through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other areas of the body, such as the other lung, brain, bones, adrenal glands, and liver (metastasis). Cancer cells can continue to multiply rapidly in other organs and develop new malignant tumors that interfere with normal organ function.

Over time, lung cancer can lead to serious complications including:

• Frequent episodes of pneumonia and bronchitis

• Metastasis of cancer to the other lung, brain, bones, adrenal glands, and liver

• Pleural effusion, which is an accumulation of fluid in the space around the lungs that causes difficulty breathing and shortness of breath

• Severe bleeding from the lungs

• Severe pain

You can best treat lung cancer and lower your risk of complications, or delay the development of complications, by following the treatment plan that you and your health care team design specifically for you.