Treatment for these patients consist of a combination of several techniques that are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Each of them will be more effective than the other depending on the type of cancer and the stage where they are. In fact, treatment depends on four factors: the type and extent of spread of the tumor, the patient's health status and functional status of the various body systems (heart, liver, kidney, neurological, etc.)

Surgery is the treatment modality most likely to be curative, therefore, is resorted to if all of the cancer can not be removed and respiratory status of the patient to tolerate the removal of the portion of lung to be removed.

Small cell lung cancers

You can remove only a small portion of the lung, if the tumor is very localized, to be called wedge resection or segmentectomy.

If you removed a lobe of the lung is called lobotomy.

If you remove the entire lung, it is called pneumonectomy.

The patient will be admitted after the operation for one or two weeks. Some will need physical therapy to regain normal lung capacity soon.

After this period back home with some limitations. Among the possible complications of the surgery are bleeding, wound infection and pneumonia.

The radiotherapy uses high energy X-radiation to destroy cancer cells. It uses a device called a linear accelerator that sends rays to the affected area only.

This treatment is used sometimes as a primary or principal in patients who can not undergo surgery. In this case, is not to cure but slow the progression of the disease, although some exceptional cases come to heal without surgery, radiation therapy alone.

Radiation therapy to the lung is often used to relieve an airway obstruction leading to cancer.

When radiotherapy is used as a secondary treatment, after surgery, is mainly used to destroy cells that have not been removed.

Another use for which radiotherapy is used to relieve cancer-causing symptoms such as pain, difficulty swallowing, and so on.

The chemotherapy is the first choice of treatment in most cases of SCLC. It can easily control the symptoms, which are often very pronounced in this type of cancer. However, the cures are rare and most often accrue past year or two.

Not all patients can be operated on as it will depend on whether they have sufficient capacity to withstand respiratory excision of part or all of the lung and how is your general condition.

In lung cancer, often used a combination of chemotherapeutic drugs. Some of these drugs can be given by mouth or by vein. When they reach the bloodstream, these drugs are spread throughout the body and act against cancer cells, destroying them. For this reason it is very useful in those cancers that have spread to other areas.

Chemotherapy can be given as primary treatment or as therapy to aid surgery. In many cases, chemotherapy is given before surgery, with the aim of reducing tumor volume and pave the way for the surgeon. Even at times, some inoperable lung cancers become operable after several months of chemotherapy. It is also possible to receive chemotherapy after surgery, even when the entire tumor was removed successfully. The reason is that with this strategy avoids a percentage of relapse and end up healing more long-term patients. We know this kind of cancer treatment as adjuvant chemotherapy.

The choice of treatment of first or second line depends on the type of cancer, and ranges from non-small cell cancer or small cell.

The most common side effects that occur as a result of the use of chemotherapy are nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, hair loss and mouth sores. Along with the chemotherapeutic drugs are used to diminish or make other side effects disappear first. TREATMENT FOR EVERY TYPE OF CANCER AND STAGE Lung Cancer Small cell

Stage 0 At this stage do not require chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Surgery may completely remove the cancer. The type of surgery is a segmentectomy, ie the removal of a lung wedge.

Stage I Segmentectomy is generally used for smaller tumors or for patients with worse physical condition, or lobectomy to remove the tumor.

The effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy, is being tested in clinical trials. Although micrometastases is useful for those that have not been identified and have not been removed by surgery.

If the tumor is at the edge of the lung tissue probably have not removed all the cancer cells, so radiation therapy is recommended.

Radiation therapy can be used as primary treatment if the patient, general condition, can not undergo surgery. The survival rate after five years in this stage is 65%.

Stage II Used surgery: segmentectomy or lobectomy.

Radiation therapy can be used after surgery to ensure that it is not any cancer cells. It can also be used as primary therapy in those patients who can not be operated on by health problems. Chemotherapy may be used after surgery or radiotherapy.

The survival rate for patients who are in this stage of cancer is 40%.

Stage IIIA Treatment at this stage will depend on where the tumor is located in the lung and whether lymph nodes are affected.

Chemotherapy is often used before surgery to shrink the tumor, to make it easier to complete removal.

When surgery can not be used to remove the tumor, radiation therapy. It is sometimes used brachytherapy which involves passing a laser through a bronchoscope to destroy part of the cancer within the trachea.

Survival rates range from 10% to 20%, although certain patients such as those with no cancer spread to lymph nodes have a better prognosis.

Stage IIIB Because at this stage the cancer is widespread, surgery is not effective. Chemotherapy may be used together with radiotherapy. Or each one separately.

The survival rate is between 10% and 20% in those patients who enjoy a good health condition and may undergo a combination of both treatments. Those who can not, its index is 5%.

Stage IV The aim of treatment at this stage is to alleviate the symptoms of the disease. It is not intended as a cure the cancer has spread to distant sites.

Chemotherapy or radiotherapy is used to reduce symptoms such as bone pain, symptoms due to nervous system, etc.. Lung Cancer Small cell

Limited Stage In general, chemotherapy is used as primary treatment, with the use of several drugs in combination.

With chemotherapy is used radiotherapy to the chest. Patients who respond well to initial treatment is administered, so preventive radiation to the head. This is because the brain is one of the sites where metastases frequently occur.

In most patients, these tumors resolve with treatment, but soon reappear becoming resistant to treatment. The survival rate of two years in the limited stage, is 40% to 50% but is reduced by 10% to 20% for five years.

Many studies are underway to test the effectiveness of other treatments such as immunotherapy or gene therapy.

Extensive stage The prognosis at this stage is very bad if left untreated cancer. Chemotherapy may be used to treat symptoms and flatter short-term survival.

Treatment with two or more drugs can shrink tumors in about 70% to 80% of these patients. Radiation therapy is also used to control symptoms and prevent the occurrence of brain metastases.

Laser surgery is used to relieve airway obstruction in patients who, by their general, not amenable to surgical surgery. The prognosis of survival five years after the discovery of cancer, is younger than 4%.

Patients who have their health badly damaged and can not undergo chemotherapy, your treatment will be reduced to drugs to relieve pain.

Monitoring

When lung cancer has been controlled through treatment, starting a regular review process that has as main purpose to detect a possible relapse in time. In addition, this monitoring also appreciate the potential consequences of treatment and the patient is provided the necessary psychological support.

Each review will be questioned patients about their symptoms, perform a detailed physical examination and requesting analysis and x-ray examinations, ultrasound and so on. depending on the diagnostic possibilities of relapse or progression of cancer. As time passes are less likely to relapse and the reviews were spaced, but it is always advisable to make a year to control the appearance of new cancers, or in the lung or other organs.