non-small cell lung cancer

If you have non-small cell lung cancer you may be offered...

Surgery
First of all, your doctor will want to decide whether there is a chance of curing you by removing the cancer in an operation.

Between one and two out of every ten non-small cell lung cancer patients are able to have surgery.

Surgery may be an option if...

• your cancer is still in the lung and has not yet spread
  
  
• the cancer is not in an awkward place (for example, it isn’t near a major blood vessel)
  
  
• you are fit enough to get through the surgery and cope afterwards.
  (You could, for instance, be left with just one lung. Your remaining lung would need to be fit enough to allow you to keep breathing.)

There are three types of operation for lung cancer:

• Wedge resection
  An operation to cut away a very small part of the lung.
  
• Lobectomy
  An operation to cut away a lobe of the lung. If the surgeon cuts away two lobes, it’s called a bilobectomy.
  
• Pneumonectomy
  An operation to take away the whole lung

Radiotherapy to try to cure the cancer
Some patients (around 1 in 20) will have radiotherapy instead of surgery to try to cure them of their cancer. This is called radical radiotherapy.

Doctors may recommend radiotherapy if they think surgery would be too dangerous for the patient.

Radiotherapy uses radiation to kill cancer cells. It is usually given from outside the body. This is called external beam radiotherapy. The treatment is given every day, Monday-Friday, for several weeks.

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy to control symptoms
If the cancer can’t be cured, you may be offered one or both of these treatments to shrink the cancer, make you feel better and prolong your life.

Chemotherapy uses special drugs to kill cancer cells. Most patients have chemotherapy every 3-4 weeks for up to six months.

Airway stents and internal radiotherapy
These treatments may be used to help you if the cancer is blocking your large airway, making it harder for you to breathe.

A stent is a device that can keep the airway open. It works a bit like an umbrella. The doctor uses a bronchoscope to put it in place. The stent then opens out and pushes against the walls of the airway, keeping it open and allowing you to breathe more easily.

Internal radiotherapy - called brachytherapy - can also be used to treat large airway blockage. A very small amount of radiation is put into the lung, to kill cancer cells from the inside.

For more information on treatments, go to our cancer treatments section.