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Is Lung Cancer Curable? Breaking Down the Facts
By Raveena M Prakash
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths across the world. Is lung cancer curable? The good news is that this cancer has the highest chance of cure when it's occupied in one lung. However, if the cancer has spread beyond the lungs, it is not usually considered curable. If you are concerned about this cancer and worried about symptoms of this cancer, then read further!
In this article, we’ll discover more about the types of this cancer, signs and symptoms, the treatment options available for this cancer, and the importance of early diagnosis for cure from this cancer.
What is lung cancer?
Lung cancer is a common type of cancer globally. This type of cancer starts as a growth of cells in the lungs. This type of cancer is a deadly disease caused by an uncontrolled division in the lungs. The cells often divide and make more copies of these cancerous cells as part of their normal function. However, there are times they get changes (cell mutations) that cause them to make more cancer cells when it shouldn’t have happened.
Types of Lung cancer
There are different types of cancer that affect lungs. But there are two main types of cancer that are affected in the lungs.
The two types of cancer may include:
Small cell lung cancer(SCLC)
Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) grows more quickly and this type of cancer is often hard to treat when compared to Non Small cell lung cancer(NSCLC). This is often found as a small tumor that has spread to other parts of the body.
There are two types, these may include:
- Small Cell Carcinoma
- Combined Small Cell Carcinoma
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
This is the most common type of cancer found in the lungs. This type of cancer accounts for 80% of all cancer cases in the lungs.
These types of cancer are classified into three main subtypes, these may include:
- Adenocarcinoma
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Large cell carcinoma
Is lung cancer curable? Here’s the truth
This type of cancer is curable when diagnosed in an early stage and treated immediately. However, most cases of this cancer often get diagnosed in the advanced stages, making a complete recovery more impossible.
Stage I–II (early stage):
This stage is often referred to as curable with surgery if diagnosed in the early stages. In this stage, it has often been treated with treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Stage III (Locally advanced stage):
This stage is also considered curable when detected in the initial stages with a combination of treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
Stage IV (Advanced):
This stage is also considered rarely curable but often treatable and manageable when treatments are started immediately. New treatments and therapies often help to improve the quality of life.
Stages of Lung cancer
Cancer developed in the lungs is often staged based on factors such as the size of the initial tumor, the extent and growth of cancer in the tissues it goes to, and whether it’s spread to the lymph nodes or other body parts in the body.
Lung cancer staging may include:
- Stage 0 (in-situ): In this stage, the cancer starts to appear in the top lining of the lung and bronchus. This has not even spread to other parts of the lung or outside of the body part yet.
- Stage I: In this stage, the cancer growth has not spread outside of the lungs.
- Stage II: In this stage, the cancer growth is comparatively larger than in stage I; it has already started to spread to lymph nodes inside the lung, or there’s more than one tumor in the same lobe of the lung.
- Stage III: In this stage, the size of the cancer is larger than in stage II, where the cancer has already spread to nearby lymph nodes or other body parts. There’s more than one tumor often found in different lobes of the same lung.
- Stage IV: This is an advanced stage of cancer that affects the lungs. The cancer has already spread to the other lung or other distant organs.
Signs and symptoms
Many cancer patients won’t experience or show any signs or symptoms until the cancer reaches an advanced stage. There are some common symptoms of this cancer that affects the lungs.
These may include:
- A cough that doesn’t heal or cure completely
- Experience trouble in breathing
- Feeling shortness of breath
- Wheezing
- Coughing up with blood
- Hoarseness
- Sudden weight loss
- Fatigue or weakness
- Shoulder pain
- Swelling in the face, neck and arms
- Hoarner's syndrome
Treatment options for this cancer
The treatments for this cancer are designed to remove cancer cells in the lungs or used to slow down their growth. Treatments used to treat this cancer normally remove cancerous cells and destroy the cells to stop multiplying. There are treatment methods used to enhance the immune system to fight the cancerous cells. Some treatments are used to reduce the symptoms and relieve pain. However, the treatment plan mainly depends on the type of cancer, location and extent of growth, how far it has spread, and many other factors.
The standard treatments used in this cancer often include surgery, radiofrequency ablation, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.
Surgery
Cancer surgery for the treatment of this cancer is mostly used in the type of non-small cell lung cancer that hasn’t spread to other parts of the body and small cell lung cancer that’s limited to a single tumor that can be treated with surgery.
The surgical oncologists might remove the tumor and a small amount of healthy tissue around it. With this, the doctor might remove all cancer tissue to stop the chance for the recurrence of cancer. In some cases, the surgical oncologists might remove the entire lungs or part of lungs through resection to avoid the chance of cancer recurrence in patients.
Radiofrequency ablation
In some cases of (NSCLC), the tumors near the outer edges of your lungs are often treated with the radiofrequency ablation method. This treatment approach generally uses high-energy radio wave heat to destroy cancer cells in the lungs.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is another common treatment method used to treat cancer in patients. In this method, it uses a high-energy beam to kill or destroy cancer cells. This treatment is often used standalone or combined with other treatments such as surgery. Radiation therapy can also be used in palliative care to shrink or destroy cancer cells and relieve pain in people. This treatment is often used in both types of cancer, including NSCLC and SCLC.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is another effective treatment used in cancer patients. It can be given to patients before or after the surgery. This treatment can be given standalone or combined with other treatment methods such as immunotherapy. Chemotherapy for lung cancer is usually given as an IV (intravenous).
Targeted drug therapy
In patients with NSCLC, the lung cells might undergo some changes (mutations) that often help cancer cells to grow. However, some specific drugs can target these types of cell mutations to slow down or destroy some cancer cells.
Immunotherapy
This is another effective cancer treatment used in patients to destroy and recognize the cancer cells in the body. The human body normally recognizes and destroys cancer cells that are damaged or harmful to the body; the immune system destroys them. Cancer cells have a way to hide from the immune system to keep the cancer cells from being destroyed. Immunotherapy treatment helps to identify or recognize cancer cells to the immune system of the patient’s body to fight cancer.
The significance of early diagnosis for the cure of cancer
Early detection of cancer in lungs helps patients to get an early and effective treatment plan for the cure of cancer. Diagnosing this cancer includes performing cancer screening tests such as blood tests, physical examination and chest X-rays.
If the oncologist suspects you have symptoms of this cancer, then they might perform some more tests, including imaging tests, CT scans, and biopsies as well. In some cases, a PET/CT scan is also performed to identify any spread in other body parts.
Regular chest screenings and X-rays used as a screening test for this cancer at people with high risk of this cancer. However there is another test which includes a low dose CT scan popularly known as (LDCT) scan used in people with high risk, mainly because they use tobacco products or smoke cigarettes.
Consult Today
Lung cancer is often considered curable if diagnosed in the initial stage of cancer. However, the chances of recovery are less when this type of cancer is diagnosed in the advanced stages. If the cancer has spread into other organs or distant tissues, then the chance of a cure seems impossible.
However, there are a combination of treatment options used for the treatment of cancer in lungs. At Oncare, we value the importance of early diagnosis of cancer in lungs, that’s why we offer many cancer diagnosis tests and treatments in an affordable price range.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with this type of cancer or if you are seeking any guidance regarding your cancer treatments, then visit Oncare’s Cancer Center and book an appointment with our cancer specialists today. Get an estimated cost of cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are mainly two types of cancer that affect the lungs.
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- Small cell lung cancer
Metastatic lung cancer is the advanced stage of cancer, this often starts in one lung but later spreads to the other lungs or other body parts. Metastatic lung cancer is hard to cure and treat when compared to early stages of this cancer that hasn’t spread outside of its original location.
Many cancer patients show no signs or symptoms of lung cancer until the cancer gets advanced. However, in some cases, the people might get symptoms in the early stages of cancer.
The symptoms of lung cancer may include:
- A cough does n’t cure or go away easily
- Trouble in breathing
- Experiencing shortness in breath
- Experiencing chest pain and discomfort
- Wheezing
- Coughing up blood
- Loss of appetite
- Hoarseness
- Sudden weight loss
- Unexplainable tiredness or weakness
- Shoulder pain
- Swelling in the face, neck, arms or upper chest
- Horner's syndrome
There are some risk factors causing lung cancer in people, including smoking cigarettes and the use of tobacco products. Studies suggest that 90% of lung cancers are caused by the use of tobacco and smoking.
Here are some other risk factors:
- Passive smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoking
- Being exposed to harmful chemical substances, such as asbestos, air pollutants, radon, uranium, silica dusts, diesel exhaust, coal products and others.
- Previous history of radiation exposure or treatments of chest, for example: Breast cancer or lymphoma
- Family history of cancer