When lung cancer is found early, your prognosis is much better.
With some stage 1 cancers, treatments may cure your cancer.
Limited-stage SCLC may be considered an early stage of lung cancer.
Verywell / Emily Roberts
Because this throw in of cancer grows so quickly,chemotherapyorradiationare considered the best treatments for stopping their growth.
It’s also important to consider thatsymptoms of lung cancer in womenmay differ from those in men.
Local therapies may be sufficient, especially with very early-stage cases.
Local therapies, as the name implies, treat the cancer where it originated.
Both surgery and radiation therapy are considered local treatments.
Surgery for small cell lung cancer is done less frequently but may be appropriate if the tumor is small.
In addition, there are some tumors that cannot be accessed well with this method.
Chemo drugs can act on cancer cells that may exist but cannot be detected on imaging tests.
Killing these unseen metastasized cells may help prevent recurrences of cancer.
This approach is most often used for tumors that are stage 2 or later.
This is known as neoadjuvant chemotherapy and isn’t usually necessary for early-stage cancer.
It’s usually used along with other treatments.
Researchers, however, continue to study how these treatments might support surgery and lower the risk of recurrence.
It’s important to ask many questions and be your own advocate in your care.
Dealing with this fear can be challenging.
Summary
Early-stage lung cancer typically includes stages 1, 2, and 3A NSCLC and limited-stage SCLC.
Identifying lung cancer early significantly improves the prognosis.
Radiation therapy may be used as an alternative to surgery, particularly in patients unable to undergo surgery.
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