The reported staging the spread of cancer, determine prognosis, and suggests the best treatment for the lung cancer patient. Although lung cancer is treatable at any stage, only certain stages can be cured.
In general, a lower stage is associated with better prognosis. However, no doctor can predict how a patient will live with lung cancer based only on the stage of disease, because cancer is different in each person and each patient’s response to treatment is different. The classification system is different for lung cancer small cell and non small cell.
1 .- small cell cancer. It is classified as:
• Disease limited: the tumor has not spread beyond one side of the chest. This region can be treated with radiation. It occurs in about 40% of patients.
• Disease spread: the tumor has spread outside the chest cavity. It is approximately 60% of cases. At present the treatment of choice is chemotherapy.
2 .- Non-Small Cell Cancer: It is classified into several stages depending on its scope:
- Stage 0: there is only disease at the microscopic level. Surgery may completely remove the tumor in this stadium.
