Lung cancer can be curable in some cases, especially with early diagnosis and treatment.
Cancer cures are often talked about in terms of remission.
Cancerremissiondepends on how early the disease is found and a persons overall health.
Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
Many healthcare providers will say that lung cancer is never truly cured.
While improvements inlung cancer treatmenthave helped more people survive, it still has a high mortality rate.
Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
What Does Being Cured From Lung Cancer Mean?
Few cancers can be really cured.
One of the only truly curable cancers is a certain throw in of blood-relatedcancer (leukemia).
Lung cancer recurrence is more likely in people withlung adenocarcinomathansquamous cell lung cancer.
Its not known how cancer can hide for years or even decades and then come back.
A Never-Cured Exception
There may be an exception to the never-cured rule.
Impact of Treatment
While lung cancer is not necessarily curable, its often treatable.
What Are the Treatment Options for Lung Cancer?
There are different treatments for lung cancer, and researchers are working on finding more and better treatments.
Treatment may help some people with lung cancer live longer.
Some patients with lung cancer may need different kinds of surgery that have different outcomes in terms of survival.
Even though surgery can be beneficial, it does come with risks.
Any surgery can carry the risk of infection, bleeding, and complications.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapyuses a combination of drugs to kill cancer cells.
For lung cancer, the medication is usually given intravenously (IV).
Chemotherapy can cause a range of side effects, from nausea and vomiting to mouth sores and hair loss.
Being on chemo can also make your immune system weak and increase your risk for infections.
Chemotherapy before or after surgery may not be recommended for people who have other health conditions.
These drugs are not generally used with the intent of curing lung cancer.
It can be beneficial even if the treatments dont cure you.
Share your goals with your healthcare provider.
Radiation therapy comes with side effects and risks, many of which are similar to chemo.
You may have skin changes, fatigue, nausea, and hair loss from radiation.
Like chemotherapy, traditional radiation therapy is often used as an adjunct therapy to support surgery.
Use of Targeted Therapies
Newertargeted therapiesfor NSCLC use drugs to fight specific types of cancer cells.
The treatments are most often used to ease symptoms and stop tumors from spreading in advanced lung cancers.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapymay bring long-term disease-free survival for some people with advanced lung cancer.
These medications help your immune system fight cancer.
They are an effective way to treat NSCLC that froze up to chemo or other treatments.
Combinations of immunotherapy drugs are being tested in clinical trials, and some early results have been encouraging.
However, the side effects of immunotherapy can be serious since the drugs affect your immune system.
You may have general flu-like symptoms (e.g., fatigue, headache) while youre having treatment.
How Do I Choose Which Treatment Is Right For Me?
Some alternative treatments do not mix with chemotherapy or other medications used to treat cancer.
Using alternative treatments could mean you put off starting proven treatments, which could shorten your life expectancy.
Consider talking to your provider about whether taking part in a clinical trial might be an option for you.
Whats the Survival Rate for Those With Lung Cancer?
Its also important to reach out to others for support.
Getting involved in the lung cancer community can help peoplecope with scanxietyand thefear of cancer recurrence.
Frequently Asked Questions
The first line of treatment varies based on the key in of lung cancer.
Surgery is most commonly used for non-small cell lung cancers.
Chemotherapy or a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy are first used for small cell lung cancer.
The speed of cancer growth varies by the bang out of the lung cancer tumor.
Small cell lung cancer is considered a fast-growing cancer punch in.
Non-small cell lung cancer is more common and spreads more slowly than small cell lung cancer.
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