Two types of lung cancer are small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Non-small cell lung cancers are more often diagnosed. About 80 percent of lung cancer cases account to non-small cell lung cancers. They are divided into three types: adenocarcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and large cell carcinomas. Small cell lung cancers arise in the lung tissue. They spread more rapidly than most non-small cell lung cancers. About 20 percent of lung cancers account to small cell lung cancer.

Prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer include the presence of pulmonary symptoms, cancer size, histology, staging, the extent of metastases, and vascular invasion. Patients who are considered inoperable, have lower lung cancer survival rate. Such prognostic factors include performance status, gender, cancer stage, and involvement of the central nervous system (liver) upon diagnosis. Prognosis for non-small cell lung carcinoma is generally poor.

Prognostic factors in small cell lung carcinoma depend on the stage defined as limited (cancer is found in one lung, tissues in between lungs, and nearby lymph nodes) or extensive (metastasis). The prognosis is also generally poor with an overall lung cancer survival rate of 5 percent. Patients diagnosed with extensive stage have a survival rate of less than 1 percent.

Lung cancer is usually diagnosed during a stage when it has already spread to other parts of the body which is why the chances of survival are low. Lung cancer survival rates depend on the type of lung cancer, stage, and the general physical well-being of the patient. Due to the advancements in research and medical practices, the survival rates are slowly but steadily increasing over time.

Survival rates, however, are not accurate measures to be used in any individual case. Only medical practitioners looking into particular cancer conditions can define or estimate the survival rate of a lung cancer patient.

For limited stage small cell lung cancer, the lung cancer survival rate ranges from 15 to 25 percent. In this stage, the cancer is limited to one of the lungs, the mediastinum, and adjacent lymph nodes. Early diagnosis may indicate that the cancer is only limited and may be partly cured by radiation and chemotherapy. Nevertheless, only 20 to 30 percent are diagnosed early.

For extended stage small cell lung cancer, the lung cancer survival rate ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Because most of small cell lung cancers are detected when proliferation has traveled to other body parts, the focus is directed to palliative care.

For stage 0 non-small cell, the lung cancer survival rate ranges from 70 to 80 percent. Diagnosis in the earliest stage indicates that the cancer is confined to a specific area and in the first few layers of the cells. At this point, it may be cured and the survival rate is high.

For stage I non-small cell, the lung cancer survival rate is 50 percent. The cancerous cells are already manifested in the lungs and the normal tissue around them. However, lung cancer is still considered localized and can be surgically removed.

For stage II non-small cell, the lung cancer survival rate is 30 percent. The cancerous cells have already invaded the lymph nodes adjacent to the lungs. The roots of the cancer are moderately spread and results to a decline in the survival chance.

For stage III non-small cell, the lung cancer survival rate ranges from 5 to 20 percent. This stage indicates wide spread of the cancerous cells. Invasion is evident in the chest wall, diaphragm, and nearby organs and blood vessels. Possible metastases may be found in mediastinum.

For stage IV non-small cell, the lung cancer survival rate is less than 2 percent. The metastases have spread to distant organs through the blood and the chances of survival drop to a very low level.

Non-small cell lung cancers are grouped together because they display similar prognosis and management options. These sub-types are adenocarcinoma lung cancer, squamous cell lung cancer, and large cell lung cancer.

Adenocarcinoma is a cancer that arises in a glandular tissue. The tissue is also part of a larger category, the epithelial. Adenocarcinomas, do not have to be part of the gland. As long as they have secretory properties, they can be classified as adenocarcinomas. Such form of carcinoma occurs in few higher mammals including man. Through biopsy, a pathologist determines if the tumor is an adenocarcinoma or another type of cancer. Adenocarcinoma can originate in many tissues of the body. Each gland does not secrete the same substance but for as long as there is an exocrine function to the cell, it is considered glandular. A malignant form therein is named “adenocarcinoma”. Abnormal tissue that is considered benign (not malignant) is called “adenoma”. Adenomas typically do not invade other tissues and rarely spread or metastasize as opposed to adenocarcinomas that invade other tissues and metastasize.

Adenocarcinoma lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer in patients who have never smoked all their lives. It accounts to about 10 percent of lung cancers. Unlike small cell and squamous cell lung cancer, this cancer is commonly seen peripherally in the lungs. Smokers may also be diagnosed in smokers but not as usual as it would be found in non-smokers. In a biopsy, adenocarcinoma lung cancer tends to stain musin positive as it is derived from the lung glands that produce mucus. Well differentiated adenocarcinoma lung cancer resembles the normal glandular structure. Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma lung cancer doesn’t resemble the normal glands.

A number of factors including the extent of the disease, general health condition, and metastases help determine the most appropriate cancer treatment combinations.

Conventional treatment options may be used to treat adenocarcinoma lung cancer. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are three common forms of cancer treatment that have been used for many years. For certain types of cancer cases, surgery is the most common way to remove tumor growths. Radiation therapy, which involves the use of high energy rays to kill or impede tumor growth, may be used in combination with other forms of cancer treatment. It is also an alternative when surgery cannot be an option. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill or slow the growth of malignancies. It is often paired with other forms of cancer treatment. Doctors control how chemotherapy is administered to manage dosage allowing the patient to tolerate the side effects that are expected.

Immunotherapy or biotherapy, a less common treatment for adenocarcinoma lung cancer, uses the body’s immune system to fight the cancer or reduce the side effects of therapies. A physician can assess a particular cancer case and see if it may be an appropriate course of treatment for a patient.

In addition to a number of advanced conventional treatment options, alternative or complementary treatment for adenocarcinoma lung cancer may be available. These non-conventional are designed to create personalized treatment plans that help patients focus on healing. Examples of these therapies are geared toward nutrition, pain management, naturopathy, spiritual, mind-body, etc.

The lungs lying above the diaphragm and under the rib cage make up one of the largest organs in the body. The lungs take carbon dioxide from the bloodstream in exchange for oxygen. This vital process is largely affected when infections and diseases, including cancer, occur, making it difficult to breathe.

Lung cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer for both males and females. Smoking is the main risk factor for a person’s chance of developing the disease. Lung cancer limits the patient’s ability to perform daily activities. Treatment options must be discussed carefully with healthcare providers with the goal of minimally disrupting lifestyle.

Oncologists work alongside practitioners from different medical disciplines to provide medical support to patients helping them to remain healthy and active as much as possible. Naturopathy, nutrition, and pain management are usually integrated with conventional lung cancer treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery.

Two types of lung cancer are small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC).

Non-small cell lung cancers are the more often diagnosed cancer type which spread over a longer period of time. The three types of non-small cell lung cancers are adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. Adenocarcinomas arise in the mucus-providing glands within the lungs. Squamous cell carcinomas arise in the bronchial tube lining. Large cell carcinomas arise in areas close to the surface of the lungs and are the most aggressive type of non-small cell lung cancer.

Small cell lung cancer begins in the lung tissue and spreads more rapidly than most non-small cell lung cancers. Only about 20 percent of lung cancers are diagnosed as small cell lung cancer. Small cell lung cancers may have different symptoms and may entail different treatment methods apart from non-small cell lung cancers.

Stages of Lung Cancer vary depending on the two types: non-small cell lung cancers and small cell lung cancers. Staging is the process of identifying the extent of the cancer. It is important because treatment, prognosis, and survival depend on the information provided by the stage of the cancer.

Correct staging of lung cancer is very important in treatment planning. Treatment choices are usually complicated and experts largely depend on the stage of the disease to identify if a particular treatment procedure must be applied. Physicians are faced with the challenge of applying surgery; if it must be done immediately, or later. Should radiation therapy be combined with chemotherapy? Should chemotherapy be administered alone? Is chemotherapy and radiation required before surgery, after, or both?

Newly diagnosed patients undergo inter-disciplinary chest exams with cooperation of radiologists, oncologists, surgeons, pulmonologists, pathologists, and endosonographers.

Stages of Lung Cancer for small cell lung cancer may be limited or extensive. In limited-stage, cancer is found in one lung, the tissues in between the lungs, and adjacent lymph nodes only. In extensive-stage, cancer has spread outside the lung and began to invade other parts of the body.

Stages of Lung Cancer for non-small cell lung cancer uses a system called the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) system. The stages are described with the use of Roman numerals from 0 to IV. Other staging systems are further divided into A and B for each roman numeric stage. The rule is: the lower the number, the lesser the cancer extent; the higher the number the greater cancer extent.

A comprehensive batch of test results will help the doctor identify the cancer stage. It is important that patients understand the stage and its consequences to help them participate in making the decision on which treatment is best.

Non-small cell lung cancer survival rate for stage I is 56 percent. Stage II presents a survival rate of 34 percent. Stage III presents a survival rate of 10 percent. And stage IV presents a survival rate of 2 percent. These survival rates are based on five-year prognosis. The numbers indicated are based on statistical data on non-small cell lung cancer from 1988 to 2001. Improvements on treatment methods may have improved, thus survival rates may be a little higher than the given.

While statistics provide an overall picture, a patient’s situation relies on the unique attributes of the specific cancer. Individual chances of a cure, prognosis, and treatment methods may vary from one to another.

Small cell lung cancer or small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), also known as the oat cell carcinoma, is less common. It usually originates in larger airways and rapidly grows allowing it to become large. This lung cancer type is strongly associated with smoking. It tends to start in the primary and secondary bronchi (larger airways) and grows quickly, becoming enlarged. The “oat” cell has dense vesicles containing neuroendocrine hormones (neurosecretory granules) that give it an endocrine or paraneoplastic syndrome association. Small cell lung carcinoma initially responds to chemotherapy but carries a worse prognosis. Often, it is of metastatic presentation.

The most effective small cell lung cancer treatment is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the treatment of disease with the use of chemicals. Such chemicals for medication kill cells, good and bad, but are targeted to micro-organisms or cancerous tumors. Popularly, chemotherapy refers to the use of antineoplastic drugs or a combination of these drugs into a cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen. It acts by killing cells that multiply rapidly.

Rapid division of cells is one of the main properties of cancer cells. Therefore, chemotherapy also harms cells that divide rapidly under normal conditions such as cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract, and hair follicles. The result of such destruction of healthy cells is myelosupplression or decrease production of blood cells which is a common side effect of chemotherapy. Such destruction also leads to mucositis or inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract or alopecia or hair loss.

Chemotherapy may also be used in combination with radiation therapy. Radiation therapy involves use of high-dose x-rays or other high energy rays to kill cancer cells. It is also called radiotherapy or radiation oncology and is sometimes abbreviated to XRT. Ionizing radiation may be a part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells. Radiotherapy may be geared towards curative or adjuvant cancer treatment. When cure is not possible and the aim is to control local disease or to relieve symptoms, it is used as palliative treatment. Radiotherapy as a therapeutic treatment when there’s a survival benefit associated with it and can be performed towards cure. Total body irradiation or TBI is a technique that prepares the body to receive a bone marrow transplant. Radiation can be administered as external radiation therapy (from outside the body) or internal radiation therapy (implantation of radiation materials inside the body).

The selection of small cell lung cancer treatment whether by chemotherapy or combination treatments depend on the stage of the cancer if it is limited or in the extensive stage.

Surgery rarely plays a role in small cell lung cancer treatment because most lung cancers have spread by the time they are found. Uncommon exceptions happen when small cell lung cancer is discovered at the very early stage of the disease while malignancy is still confined to the lung without metastases to the lymph nodes. When diagnosis happens at a very early stage of the disease, surgical removal of the lung tumor may be performed. However it is not considered curative in itself which still leads to administration of chemotherapy.

The lungs are located above the diaphragm and under the rib cage making up one of the largest organs in the body. Breathing is the vital process affected by a malignant growth in the lungs or lung cancer. Lung cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer wherein most cases are associated with smoking.

Small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) are the two types of lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancers (adenocarcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and large cell carcinomas) are more common than small cell lung cancers. Small cell lung cancers spread more rapidly than non-small cell lung cancers and are generally more dangerous.

Lung cancer treatment depends on the type and stage of the tumor, how far it has spread, and the patient’s performance status.

Lung cancer chemotherapy is the primary treatment given to small cell lung carcinoma. It is usually administered alongside radiation. Primary lung cancer chemotherapy is also given in metastatic non-small cell carcinoma.

Lung cancer chemotherapy refers to the use of anticancer drugs to treat cancer. These chemical drugs are designed to interfere rapid proliferation of cancer cells in the body. The development of medical research has led to the improvement of lung cancer chemotherapy administration. More innovative methods are available allowing a reduction in the side effects of lung cancer treatment. Breakthroughs in chemotherapy include fractionated-dose chemotherapy where chemotherapy can be administered in smaller and more tolerable doses than in large, one-time doses.

Doctors may suggest administration of chemotherapy before or after surgery. Administration can be done through intravenous methods (through veins) or oral methods (in the form of pills or tablets).

Lung cancer chemotherapy may be used in three main ways: as neoadjuvant, as adjuvant, or as systematic therapy. Neoadjuvant or primary systematic chemotherapy is administered before surgery to kill cancer cells. This way, oncologists also determine the effectiveness of a particular lung cancer treatment on the tumor before performing it. Adjuvant chemotherapy is administered after surgery or radiation. The purpose is to kill the cancer cells that might have escaped the initial cancer treatment and prevent cancer from spreading to other parts of the body. Systematic chemotherapy is administered to patients with locally advanced or metastatic lung cancer.

Lung cancer chemotherapy combinations are given in succession for a period of time ranging from several weeks to months with breaks in between to allow for recovery. Chemotherapy does not only kill the cancer cells but also the healthy cells which cause acute side effects. Extreme nausea, vomiting, faintness, exhaustion, hair loss, indigestion, are some side effects. The harshness of chemotherapy’s side effects depend on how an individual’s body responds to the drugs.

Conventional or complementary lung cancer treatment options may minimize the side effects caused by chemotherapy. Supportive and complementary therapies may help improve a patient’s quality of life. Some alternative therapies are nutrition therapies, naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, spiritual support, and mind-body medicine. These therapies may be of great help before, during, and after chemotherapy administration.

Doctors may monitor the effects of lung cancer chemotherapy in a variety of ways including physical exams, blood tests, CT scans, MRI scans, and x-ray exams.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancerous deaths. Most people diagnosed with it die within one year of diagnosis. Cigarette smoking is the leading etiology. At the time of diagnosis, distant metastasis is common. Most primary lung tumors are bronchogenic or of the airway epithelium. Small-cell carcinomas grow rapidly and invade tissue early while non-small-cell carcinomas are less rapid and invasive. Regardless, bronchogenic cancers tend to be aggressive, locally invasive, and have widespread metastatic lesions. Usual metastases grow in the brain, bone, or liver via lymph channels. Superior Vena Cava Syndrome occurs when the enlarged tumors obstruct the superior vena cava.

Up to a quarter of people with lung cancer may not experience symptoms when it is diagnosed. Lung cancer is usually identified incidentally when chest x-rays are preformed for other reasons. Majority of patients, however, experience symptoms. These are cause by the effects of the primary tumor, effects of metastatic tumors in other body parts, or disturbance of hormones, blood or other systems caused by the disease.

There are common lung cancer symptoms that aid to the detection of lung cancer.

One of the lung cancer symptoms is chronic cough and hemoptysis. Unusual coughing for smokers or former smokers should raise concern for the possibility of developing the disease. Cough that does not go away or gets worse over time should be evaluated by a physician. Hemoptysis or coughing up of blood is experienced by a significant number of patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Any amount of blood coughed up must be given immediate attention.

Wheezing and shortness of breath both result from airway obstruction. Wheezing or hoarseness may signal blockage or inflammation in the lungs that may go together with lung cancer. Shortness of breath usually results from collection of fluid around the lung called pleural effusion. This may indicate spread of the tumor throughout the lungs.

Dull and aching chest pain results from metastases to the chest mediastinum with pleuritic pain occurring if the pleura are invaded. Chest pain happens to about one-fourth of patients with lung cancer. The pain is persistent and may involve other structures surrounding the lungs.

Hoarseness with dysphagia results from tumor pressure on the trachea or esophagus. Dysphagia refers to the symptom of difficulty in swallowing. Patients are sometimes unaware of their dysphagia.

Recurring respiratory infections can be signs of lung cancer. Examples are bronchitis and pneumonia. Bronchitis refers to inflammation of the mucous membranes of the bronchi which are airways carrying airflow from the trachea into the lungs. Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung frequently described as lung parenchyma or lung alveolar inflammation where the alveolar in the lungs is being filled with fluid.

Other lung cancer symptoms include systematic manifestations such as weight loss, anorexia, fatigue, weakness, skin rashes, degeneration of the brain, bone pain, bone tenderness, bone swelling, and clubbing of the fingers and toes. These are also called paraneoplastic syndromes which are remote. They have indirect effects of cancer that are not related to the direct invasion of an organ by the tumor cells. They are mostly caused by chemicals released from the cancers.

To understand what is lung cancer, we need to explain tumors.

Tumor markers are substances produced by cancer cells. They reflect the presence or absence of cancer, and indicate whether a cancer returns (recurs) after treatment. Tumors in the lungs are divided into two types: non-small lung cancer (including large cell lung cancer , squamous cell carcinoma , and adenocarcinoma ) and small cell lung cancer . Non-small lung cancer is by far the most common type of lung cancer. Tumor that has spread outside to other pars of the body is classified as Stage 4 (IV).

Tumors that attack normal tissue and eventually spread to other parts of the body are considered malignant (cancerous).

Also it is important to warn to all of you searching what is lung cancer , that smokers are at much greater risk of getting lung cancer and passive smoking has also been linked to lung cancer. Giving up smoking leads to a gradual reduction in the risk of developing lung cancer with each year that passes after stopping – returning to a normal level of risk 15 years after stopping. Smokers and other people who have a lung condition or illness prior to exposure are at a greater risk for developing asbestos-related lung cancer, as their respiratory system has already been compromised. Many people who are exposed to asbestos develop non-cancerous respiratory illnesses, such as asbestosis, which also increases the risk of developing lung cancer and even mesothelioma.

Treatment may aim to control the cancer. If a cure is not realistic, with treatment it is often possible limit the growth or spread of the cancer so that it progresses less rapidly. Treatment also may include radiation therapy aimed at the tumor in the lung or tumors in other parts of the body. Treatment depends on the type, size, and stage of the cancer and your own general health. If you have a single tumor with little or no spread into nearby tissues, surgery is the usual treatment.