About Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer for both men and women. Smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer. Radon (radiation from the earth) is the second most common cause of lung cancer.

The philosophy on the treatment of lung cancer is that if the lung cancer is limited to the lung only, the treatment of choice is surgery. If the lung cancer has gone beyond the lung, then the initial treatment is chemotherapy with possible radiation to get rid of cancer cells that have gone beyond the lung. If the cancer responds to the chemotherapy, surgery can be performed to remove the residual lung cancer within the lung.

There are two main types of lung cancer.

• Small Cell lung cancer – tends to go beyond the lung with ease. Primary treatment is chemotherapy and radiation. Usually responds to chemotherapy very quickly.
• Non-Small Cell lung cancer – most common type of lung cancer. If the cancer has not gone beyond the lung, surgery to remove the lobe of the lung is the treatment of choice. If the cancer has gone beyond the lung, chemotherapy with possible radiation is the first line of treatment followed by possible surgery.