Cancer Therapy & Research Center
7979 Wurzbach Rd., San Antonio, TX 78229 (210) 450-1000
Toll free: 1-800-340-CTRC (2872)
Toll free: 1-800-340-CTRC (2872)
Lung cancer - non-small cell
Cancer - lung - non-small cell; Non-small cell lung cancer; NSCLC; Adenocarcinoma - lung; Squamous cell carcinoma - lung
OverviewNon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. It usually grows and spreads more slowly than
There are three forms of NSCLC:
Review Date: 9/14/2009
Reviewed By: Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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Smoking causes most cases of lung cancer. The risk depends upon the number of cigarettes smoked every day and for how long someone has smoked. Being around the smoke from others (secondhand smoke) also raises your risk for lung cancer. However, people who do not smoke and have never smoked have become sick with lung cancer.
A review of decades of research has recently shown that smoking marijuana may help cancer cells grow, but there is no direct link between the drug and developing lung cancer.
High levels of air pollution and drinking water containing high levels of arsenic can increase your risk for lung cancer. Radiation therapy to the lungs can also increase the risk.
Working with or near the following cancer-causing chemicals or materials can also increase your risk:
Early lung cancer may not cause any symptoms. Symptoms you should watch for include:
Other symptoms that may be due to NSCLC:
Note: These symptoms can be due to other, less serious conditions. It is important to talk to your health care provider.
Calling your health care providerThere are many different types of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Treatment depends upon the stage of the cancer.
Surgery is the often the first line of treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer that has not spread beyond nearby lymph nodes. The surgeon may remove:
Some patients need chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells and stop new ones from growing.
Radiation therapy uses powerful x-rays or other forms of radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy can be used with chemotherapy if surgery is not possible.
The following treatments are mostly used to relieve symptoms caused by NSCLC:
If you smoke, stop smoking. It's never too early to quit. People who have smoked in the past can be at increased risk for lung cancer more than 20 years after quitting, although the risk drops significantly in the first year after quitting. There are benefits to quitting smoking, even for people who are well into middle age.
Try to avoid secondhand smoke.
Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
Routine screening for lung cancer is not recommended. Many studies have been done to look at the idea, but scientists have concluded that, at this time, screening does not help improve a person’s chance for a cure.
The outlook varies widely. Most often, NSCLC develops slowly and causes few or no symptoms until very late stages. However, in some cases, it can be extremely agressive and cause rapid death. The cancer may spread to other parts of the body, including the bone, liver, small intestine, and brain.
Chemotherapy has been shown to prolong the life and improve the quality of life in some patients with stage IV NSCLC.
Cure rates are related to the stage of disease and whether you are able to have surgery.
The health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history. You will be asked if you smoke, and if so, how long you have smoked.
When listening to the chest with a stethoscope, the health care provider can sometimes hear fluid around the lungs, which could (but doesn't always) suggest cancer.
Tests that may be performed to diagnose lung cancer or see if it has spread include:
In some cases, the health care provider may need to remove a piece of tissue from your lungs for examination under a microscope. This is called a biopsy. There are several ways to do this:
If the biopsy reveals you do have lung cancer, more imaging tests will be done to determine the stage of the cancer. Stage means how big the tumor is and how far it's spread. Non-small cell lung cancer is divided into five stages:
