LUNG CANCER
TREATMENTS |
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Treatment choices and chances of long
term survival in lung cancer depend on the type of cancer, its
location and size, lymph node involvement, and whether there is
evidence of cancer spread to other parts of the body outside of the
lungs.
Currently, surgery is the only treatment which may offer a
definitive or complete cure. Unfortunately, only one-half of
patients with lung cancer are surgical candidates. If the spread of
cancer to the lymph nodes is found at the time of removal of the
lung cancer, the chances of the cancer recurring is quite high.
Preoperative evaluation is extremely important, not only to exclude
non-resectable cancers (i.e. those cancers which technically cannot
be surgically removed), but to exclude patients with severe heart or
lung problems who might not survive the operation. Palliative
surgical resection of the tumor is sometimes performed, whereby the
cancer is removed knowing that this will not cure the patient, but
will likely improve the quality of life remaining for the patient. |
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| LUNG CANCER RELATED ITEMS |
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