Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, taking an average of 382 lives per day¹.

The disease is known as a “silent killer” because it often goes undetected in its early stages. Patients may not notice warning signs like chest pain or chronic fatigue until it metastasizes. At that point, the disease is more challenging to treat.

Below, we discuss the signs and causes of lung cancer. We also offer insight into available treatment options, including radiation therapy.

Lung cancer is a type of cancer that originates in the lungs. Most lung cancers start in the cells lining the bronchi, air passageways that lead from the windpipe to the lungs. Cancer can also begin in the bronchioles, which are tiny air tubes, or the alveoli, which is where the lungs and blood exchange oxygen.

Like other cancers, lung cancer happens when cells with damaged DNA grow and multiply. A cell’s DNA can be damaged by environmental factors like ultraviolet rays from the sun or chemicals in tobacco. These genetic abnormalities can be inherited as well.

Fortunately, our body typically detects and destroys damaged cells before they divide. But with age, the immune system becomes less adept at distinguishing between normal and abnormal cells.

But what makes a cancer cell abnormal? Chiefly, cancer cells ignore signals to stop dividing and die (a process called apoptosis). Instead, they grow uncontrollably and hide from the immune system, tricking immune cells into protecting malignant tumors. Cancer cells can even tell blood vessels to feed nutrients and oxygen to cancerous growth. When cancer cells invade other parts of the body, this is called metastatic cancer.

In the early stages of lung cancer, most patients experience no symptoms.

However, as the disease progresses and spreads throughout the lungs or to other body tissues, you may begin to notice sudden changes in your health.

Typical symptoms of lung cancer include:

• A cough that gets worse or won’t go away
• Rust-colored phlegm
• Chest pain
• Recurring respiratory infections (e.g. bronchitis, pneumonia)
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Hoarseness
• Feeling tired all the time (fatigue)
• Unexplained weight loss
• Swelling of the face, neck, arms, legs, or feet (edema)

If you notice any of the above symptoms, schedule an appointment with your general practitioner.

Your general practitioner can determine if the medical issues you are experiencing are a sign of lung cancer or if they are related to a non-cancerous condition. From there, he or she can refer you to an oncologist for further testing.

There is no sure way to prevent lung cancer.

However, you can reduce your risk of developing lung cancer by:

• Not smoking/quitting smoking
• Avoiding secondhand smoke
• Testing your home for radon
• Avoiding carcinogenic chemicals at work
• Eating a balanced diet
• Limiting stress
• Exercising regularly

If you are a current smoker or have smoked in the past, you may consider scheduling yearly lung cancer screenings.

During this preventative procedure, a special X-ray machine scans your lungs. These detailed images help medical professionals catch lung cancer before symptoms ever appear.

Since early detection can decrease lung cancer mortality by 20%, annual lung cancer screenings are key for high-risk patients⁴.

You are considered high-risk if you:

• Have at least 20 pack-year smoking history, and
• Smoke now or have quit within the past 15 years, and
• Are between 50 and 80 years old

A pack-year is used to measure the amount a person has smoked over time. This is calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years someone has smoked.

Some cases of lung cancer are detected during annual screenings.

However, lung cancer is more commonly found after the onset of symptoms like chest pain and fatigue.

If you have recently experienced a sudden decline in your health, schedule an appointment with your general practitioner.

If cancer is suspected, he or she will likely refer you to an oncologist. From there, the oncologist will pursue various avenues for diagnosis.

Common diagnostic imaging tests include:

• Chest X-ray
• CT scan
• MRI scan
• PET scan
• Bone scan
• Blood samples

Diagnosis of lung cancer is typically confirmed with a lung biopsy. During a biopsy, a small tissue sample is collected for lab testing.

Lung cancer staging involves evaluating the size of the tumor in the lung and whether the cancer has been spread to lymph nodes or elsewhere in the body.

Staging is an important aspect of lung cancer treatment and prognosis. Exactly how your lung cancer is staged depends on your cancer type.

SCLC is typically categorized as either limited stage or extensive stage.

In limited stage SCLC, the lung cancer is confined to one side of the chest.

In extensive stage SCLC, the cancer has spread widely throughout the lung, to the other lung or chest tissues, or throughout the body.

Lung cancer staging helps your cancer care team develop an appropriate cancer treatment plan. Staging also offers insight into survival rates.

Survival rates indicate the percentage of people with a specific type and stage of cancer who survived for a specific period of time.

Since these percentages are based on samplings of patients, they cannot predict the exact outcome for a single individual. However, they do provide patients with insight into how effective their treatment may be.

SCLC is aggressive, spreading throughout the body quickly. Because of this, the overall five-year survival rate for both limited and extensive stage SCLC is typically <10%¹⁰.

The five-year survival rates for patients with NSCLC are:

• Stage I, 54%
• Stage II, 35%
• Stage IIIA, 10 to 15%
• Stage IIIB, less than 5%
• Stage IV, less than 2%⁷

Lung cancer treatment depends on the type and stage of the disease, but may include:

• Surgery
• Radiation
• Chemotherapy
• A combination of these treatments

When the disease is in the early stages and has not spread to the lymph nodes, surgery or focused radiation are the primary treatment options.

However, when the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or the middle of the chest (mediastinum), treatment typically involves radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

At SERO, our radiation oncologists are dedicated to improving patient outcomes by providing state-of-the-art treatment options for lung cancer care.

Our board-certified physicians are well-versed in advanced radiotherapy technologies such as intensity modulated radiation therapy and image-guided radiation therapy. Many have also been involved in national research specific to lung cancer. This experience allows us to provide a superior patient experience.

To learn more about SERO and our radiation services, call us at 704-333-7376.

Lung cancer key findings. (2021).
https://www.lung.org/research/state-of-lung-cancer/key-findings

What are the risk factors for lung cancer? (2022).
https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/basic_info/risk_factors.htm

Health effects of secondhand smoke. (2021).
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects/index.htm

Lung cancer fact sheet.
https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/lung-cancer/resource-library/lung-cancer-fact-sheet

What is lung cancer? (2019).
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/lung-cancer/about/what-is.html

Lung cancer survival rates. (2022).
https://www.verywellhealth.com/lung-cancer-survival-rates-by-type-and-stage-2249401

Fiver-year survival rates. (2002).
https://training.seer.cancer.gov/lung/intro/survival.html