Popular treatment options for metastatic lung cancer
Accounting for 27% of cancer deaths, lung cancer is deadlier than colorectal, breast, and pancreatic cancer. To be safer and increase the chances of a cure, detecting lung cancer in its early stages is important. When lung cancer is not detected early and is left untreated, lung cancer metastasizes to other body parts such as the liver, the other lung, the brain, the adrenal gland, or the bones. This widespread cancer is then considered as metastatic lung cancer.
Several metastatic lung cancer treatments are available that can help you deal with the condition. Read on to know about them.
Radiation and chemotherapy
Both radiation and chemotherapy are considered to be a very effective treatment option for non-small cell lung cancer, as they play crucial roles in preventing the non-small cell lung cancer from recurring once it is surgically removed.
Surgery
Surgery is one of the primary treatment options for non-small cell lung cancer when the patient is diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer in Stage I or Stage II. Here, the surgeon usually removes the section or the lobe of the lung that contains the tumor.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy has recently emerged as a new lung cancer treatment. It focuses on strengthening the immune system, and its mechanism of action is considered to be greatly effective as a metastatic lung cancer treatment.
- Monoclonal antibodies
- Therapeutic vaccines
- Checkpoint inhibitors
- Adoptive t-cell transferring
Targeted therapies
Among all the metastatic lung cancer treatment options, targeted therapies are often considered to be the most effective ones as they, unlike chemotherapy and radiation that fail to differentiate between a normal and cancer cell, specifically attack the cancer cells only. This type of metastatic lung cancer treatment is ideal for patients who are in the advanced stage of lung cancer.
Metastatic lung cancer is a life-threatening condition; however, with proper metastatic lung cancer treatment at the right time, further spreading of the cancer cells can be prevented, and as a result, the condition of the lungs can be improved as well.
These are some of the most preferred treatment options for metastatic lung cancer.
