lung cancer surgery – Cancer In Plain English – Cancer Information

In the treatment of lung cancer does it help to receive chemotherapy after surgery? – YES!

RemwesMedical — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:22:21 +0000

A key factor when it comes to treating lung cancer is that if the lung cancer is found early in its growth, it may be possible to remove it surgically. To remove a lung cancer by surgery is the BEST CHANCE for cure that a patient with lung cancer can have. Unfortunately, there are many patients in whom the lung cancer returns just a few months after having removed it surgically. Also unfortunately, and more importantly, is the fact that when the lung cancer returns after having removed it surgically, it is then usually incurable. A key question is then: Is there something we can do in order to try to keep the lung cancer from coming back after having removed it surgically? The answer is yes!
In a recent set of articles and an editorial in the January 1, 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Doctors at the Cross Cancer Institute in Alberta, Canada have shown that it helps to receive chemotherapy after the surgery is performed to remove the lung cancer. They have shown that by giving chemotherapy following surgery, the chemotherapy helps to keep the cancer from returning. The act of giving chemotherapy following surgery is what is known as ADJUVANT chemotherapy.
These doctors have shown that if a lung cancer is found early (at least stages II and III) and is able to be removed surgically, if the person then receives chemotherapy with a chemotherapy medication known as Cisplatin accompanied by another chemotherapy medicine known as Vinorelbine (also called Navelbine), the person who receives chemotherapy this way after surgery, will have a significantly lower risk of having the cancer return compared to a person only had surgery to remove the cancer and did not receive any chemotherapy following the surgery.
These doctors at the Cross Cancer Institute in Canada and in an accompanying editorial written by Dr. Jean-Yves Douillard of the Centre Rene Gauducheau for Medical Oncology in St Herblain, France, have noted that even after following these patients for over 9 years after their surgery and/or chemotherapy, the patients who received surgery AND THEN chemotherapy lived longer and had less chances for their cancers to return compared with patients who received ONLY surgery and DID NOT receive chemotherapy after their surgery.
Thus, in conclusion, these studies show that if one has surgery to remove a lung cancer that has been found early, it is important and it makes perfect sense to ask one’s doctor about the possibility of receiving chemotherapy after the surgery in order to do all that is possible to keep the cancer from coming back. All of these concepts and more are covered in very easy to understand language in the Lung Cancer audio CD available on the www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com web site.

Lung Cancer Surgery

RemwesMedical — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 +0000

Surgery for lung cancer is the only treatment that truly offers the possibility of cure. Unfortunately, it is not available for many people who develop lung cancer. Many times, by the time we discover the lung cancer, it has spread so far that surgery is no longer a possibility.

WHAT DETERMINES IF A PERSON MAY HAVE SURGERY AS TREATMENT FOR THEIR LUNG CANCER? The possibility of surgery for a person with lung cancer depends on two main factors: 1) the Stage of the lung cancer when it is found and 2) the ability of the person to tolerate the surgery.

STAGE: The stage of the lung cancer is a way of saying, “How much had the cancer spread by the time we found it?”. The STAGES in lung cancer depend on the TYPE of lung cancer. Lung cancer is divided into two main types: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers and Small Cell Lung Cancers.

NON SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER STAGES: The Stages for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer are Stages I, II, III and IV with I being the best and IV being the worst. Each of these stages is further divided into A or B. Thus it is possible to have a stage IA or IB and a stage IIA or IIB and so forth and so on. The generally accepted standard is that lung cancers that are spread greater than Stage IIIA when we find them are usually not felt to be candidates for surgery. After Stage IIIA, the cancer is felt to be too far advanced in order to have surgery.

SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER STAGES: The stages for Small Cell Lung Cancer are only two. Those two are either “Limited Stage” or “Extensive Stage”. Small cell lung cancer is so aggressive that surgery is not an option for this kind of lung cancer. It does not matter if we find a small cell lung cancer in a “Limited” stage or an “Extensive” stage, surgery is not an option for this type of lung cancer (i.e. Small cell lung cancer) because it is felt to be so aggressive that when we find it, it has already always spread and therefore surgery is not an option.

WHAT DETERMINES THE ABILITY OF A PATIENT TO TOLERATE SURGERY? The ability of a person to tolerate surgery is the second most important factor which determines if a person with lung cancer may or may not have surgery as treatment for their lung cancer. A person may not be able to tolerate lung cancer surgery if, for example, they have advanced: 1) Heart Disease or 2) Emphysema or 3) Brittle Diabetes or other medical problems. Thus, even if the cancer is small enough to be surgically removed when we first find it, unfortunately it may be that the person with the cancer is so sick because of other medical problems, that he or she still may not be able to have the desired surgery to try to remove the lung cancer.

All of the principles mentioned above and many more are explained in calm and easy-to-understand language on the Lung Cancer audio CD available on www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com.