Stage 4 Lung Cancer is lung cancer that has spread beyond the initial area in the lung where the cancer started to a distant area such as the opposite lung or the bones or the brain or the liver. Lung Cancer is divided into two different types of lung cancer.Those two types of lung cancer are Non Small Cell Lung Cancer and Small Cell Lung Cancer. NON Small Cell Lung Cancer is the one that is staged as Stage I, II, III or IV. The other form of lung cancer, the one known as SMALL Cell Lung Cancer is only staged only as either “Limited Stage” or “Advanced Stage”.
Thus, whenever someone states that a lung cancer is “Stage 4”, we know that they must be speaking about Non Small Cell Lung Cancer since Small Cell Lung Cancer is not staged with numbers. Small Cell Lung Cancer is staged only with those two categories mentioned earlier, “Limited” or “Advanced”.
The reason why Small Cell Lung Cancer is staged only in those two categories is because Small Cell Lung Cancer is felt to be so aggressive (it is more aggressive than Non Small Cell Lung Cancer) that surgery is not possible when it is first discovered. Therefore, it is not necessary to stage Small Cell Lung Cancers precisely with numbers. All that is needed in the staging of Small Cell Lung Cancer is to know if the disease is “Limited” or “Extensive” when it is found.
Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, on the other hand, does have the ability to be removed with surgery when it is first discovered, if it is found early enough. As such, the stages of Non Small Cell Lung Cancer are divided into Stage I, II, III or IV in an effort to know as carefully as possible if surgery is a possibility. Stage IV Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, however, is cancer that has already spread from the lungs where it started to a distant organ or a distant site far from the original location where the lung cancer started. As such, surgery is not possible for Stage IV Lung Cancer. The treatments that are possible for Stage IV Lung Cancer are chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
All of these concepts and many more are covered carefully and in very easy to understand language in the Lung Cancer audio CD available on www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com.