Lung cancer can be treated by various therapies that are often used in combination to provide optimal outcomes for patients. Surgical resection is the surgical process in which the tumor, and is usually recommended if the cancer has not metastasized (or spread) outside the lungs to other parts of the body.

There are several options for doing that may involve resection of minimally invasive surgery or full operation. The technique used will depend on many factors, especially the size and stage of cancer and tumors are accessible to a surgeon.

Thoracotomy performed by a surgeon makes an incision through the chest wall and the average sternotomy performed by entering the chest cavity through the sternum. The second method is usually used in surgery for lung cancer, but they simply involve the discomfort and prolonged patient stay in hospital with a recovery period longer.

Alternative operating procedures including anterior limited Thoracotomy (ALT) which involves a small incision to allow entry, again through the front of the chest. It should be emphasized that the incision is much smaller than the standard or average Thoracotomy sternotomy. An alternative is the anterior axillary Thoracotomy (AAT) which involves a small incision in the chest near the armpit, but eventually, there was postero-lateral Thoracotomy (PLT) which involves the incision of the patient’s back or side of the trunk.

Even with this improved surgical techniques, a patient will experience pain big enough if the operation involves opening the chest (sometimes called the doctor as “cracking the chest”).

As a consequence of prolonged recovery and the patient discomfort, surgical techniques have been developed that do not involve large-scale operation – it is called, minimal-invasive technique.

Video-assisted thoracoscopy (VAT) using a high powered video cameras and hi-definition screen in combination with the diagnostic scans, such as CT or PET scans, to target tumors in the lungs of patients. Incision is required is much smaller and do not need to open the chest cavity resulting in much less discomfort for patients and greatly reduced recovery period. Using the video display, the surgeon can resect the tumor that had been identified during the diagnosis stage and phase.

Some doctors do caution, however the use of VAT, as the traditional Thoracotomy can reveal tumors and other metastatic cancers that have not been found in the scans and initial diagnosis. If this still has not found the cancer can return and the patient will become sick again and for this reason, VAT is usually recommended for early stage (I & II) and cancer has not spread to other parts of the lungs and body.

This is very normal for any surgical procedure must be accompanied by a phase of chemotherapy or radiation treatments to ensure that cancer patients have been completely removed or killed. How the treatment and at what stage a particular therapy will be recommended will be determined by the type and stage of lung cancer patients have.

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Limited Stage
In general, chemotherapy is used as primary treatment, with the use of several drugs in combination.

With chemotherapy is used radiotherapy to the chest. Patients who respond well to initial treatment is administered, so preventive radiation to the head. This is because the brain is one of the sites where metastases frequently occur.

In most patients, these tumors resolve with treatment, but soon reappear becoming resistant to treatment. The survival rate of two years in the limited stage, is 40% to 50% but is reduced by 10% to 20% for five years.

Many studies are underway to test the effectiveness of other treatments such as immunotherapy or gene therapy.

Extensive stage
The prognosis at this stage is very bad if left untreated cancer. Chemotherapy may be used to treat symptoms and flatter short-term survival.

Treatment with two or more drugs can shrink tumors in about 70% to 80% of these patients. Radiation therapy is also used to control symptoms and prevent the occurrence of brain metastases.

Laser surgery is used to relieve airway obstruction in patients who, by their general, not amenable to surgical surgery. The prognosis of survival five years after the discovery of cancer, is younger than 4%.

Patients who have their health badly damaged and can not undergo chemotherapy, your treatment will be reduced to drugs to relieve pain.

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Stage 0
At this stage do not require chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Surgery may completely remove the cancer. The type of surgery is a segmentectomy, ie the removal of a lung wedge.

Stage I
Segmentectomy is generally used for smaller tumors or for patients with worse physical condition, or lobectomy to remove the tumor.

The effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy, is being tested in clinical trials. Although micrometastases is useful for those that have not been identified and have not been removed by surgery.

If the tumor is at the edge of the lung tissue probably not have removed all the cancer cells, so radiation therapy is recommended.

Radiation therapy can be used as primary treatment if the patient, general condition, can not undergo surgery. The survival rate after five years in this stage is 65%.

Stage II
Used surgery: segmentectomy or lobectomy.

Radiation therapy can be used after surgery to ensure that it is not any cancer cells. It can also be used as primary therapy in those patients who can not be operated on by health problems. Chemotherapy may be used after surgery or radiotherapy.

The survival rate for patients who are in this stage of cancer is 40%.

Stage IIIA
Treatment at this stage will depend on where the tumor is located in the lung and whether lymph nodes are affected.

Chemotherapy is often used before surgery to shrink the tumor, to make it easier to complete removal.

When surgery can not be used to remove the tumor, radiation therapy. It is sometimes used brachytherapy which involves passing a laser through a bronchoscope to destroy part of the cancer within the trachea.

Survival rates range from 10% to 20%, although certain patients such as those with no cancer spread to lymph nodes have a better prognosis.

Stage IIIB
Because at this stage the cancer is widespread, surgery is not effective. Chemotherapy may be used together with radiotherapy. Or each one separately.

The survival rate is between 10% and 20% in those patients who enjoy a good health condition and may undergo a combination of both treatments. Those who can not, its index is 5%.

Stage IV
The aim of treatment at this stage is to alleviate the symptoms of the disease. It is not intended as a cure the cancer has spread to distant sites.

Chemotherapy or radiotherapy is used to reduce symptoms such as bone pain, symptoms due to nervous system, etc..

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