What is the treatment for lung cancer?

Written by Gong Chun
Oncology
Updated on September 24, 2024
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Treatment for lung cancer should be based on the pathological staging, the pathology type, the biological behavior of the lung cancer, and individualization, taking into account the patient's cardiopulmonary function and overall systemic condition to develop a personalized treatment plan. For non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer, the treatment approaches differ significantly. Therefore, it is advisable for patients to seek treatment at specialized hospitals, under the guidance of oncology specialists. Generally, treatment options for non-small cell lung cancer include surgical resection, adjunctive chemoradiation, neoadjuvant chemoradiation, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. For small cell lung cancer, a comprehensive treatment plan combining chemoradiation, along with prophylactic cranial irradiation and other aggressive treatments, is recommended. Each individual's situation might differ, so it is important to focus on a personalized comprehensive treatment plan rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

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Written by Liu Liang
Oncology
1min 13sec home-news-image

Dietary therapy for lung cancer

In the diet of lung cancer patients, Western medicine does not have the concept of "trigger foods" like Chinese medicine does. According to Western medicine, there are no specific dietary restrictions; the focus is on maintaining a balanced diet as usual, incorporating meat, proteins, vegetables, and fruits to ensure nutritional balance. Generally, lung cancer patients may experience coughing symptoms, so it is advisable to consume a light diet avoiding oily fried foods. Extremely spicy foods can provoke irritative coughing and worsen it, so they should be avoided, along with barbecued and pickled foods, and junk food. Other than that, the diet should be similar to a normal balanced diet. For patients undergoing chemotherapy, a high-protein diet is recommended, preferably consisting of steamed or stewed dishes. These can be combined with traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as Astragalus, American ginseng, and Dong quai, which are known to boost energy and enhance resistance, thus aiding in dietary therapy to strengthen the patient's immunity.

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Written by Gong Chun
Oncology
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How to check for lung cancer?

How to check for lung cancer, firstly, for lung cancer screening, particularly in people over forty years old, especially smokers, it is recommended to regularly undergo low-dose spiral CT scans of the chest. Secondly, if a tumor is detected, it is suggested to proceed with enhanced CT scans, sputum cytology tests, or PET-CT. If it is confirmed that there is a tumor in the lungs, then a biopsy is needed. The biopsy can be performed under bronchoscopy, or transthoracic lung puncture and biopsy of living tissue can also be done, as well as biopsy of metastatic lesions or cytological examination of pleural effusion to diagnose whether it is lung cancer, the type of lung cancer, and certain immunohistochemical situations.

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Written by Gong Chun
Oncology
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Staging of Lung Cancer

The staging of lung cancer is of great clinical significance for the selection of clinical treatment plans and the prediction of prognosis. According to the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the World Health Organization, lung cancer is staged based on the size of the primary tumor (T stage), the condition of tumor lymph node metastasis (N stage), and the presence of distant metastases (M stage). Lung cancer is classified according to these criteria, which are used internationally. Currently, there are UICC staging and AJCC staging, which are two different systems.

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Written by Li Ying
Pulmonology
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Is hemoptysis lung cancer?

Coughing up blood is not necessarily lung cancer. Among respiratory diseases, the three most common causes of coughing up blood are, first, bronchiectasis; second, pneumonia and lung abscess; and third, lung cancer. So how can we determine the cause? The best, simplest, and fastest method is to go to the hospital for a lung CT scan as soon as coughing up blood occurs. If the lung CT shows bronchiectasis, then bronchiectasis should be considered; if it shows an infiltrative lesion, then pneumonia should be considered; if it shows a tumor, then lung cancer should be considered at that time. However, there is also a scenario where blood is coughed up, but the lung CT is completely normal. What should be done then? This situation might be due to pharyngitis. Sometimes, severe coughing from pharyngitis can cause bleeding of the mucous membranes in the throat. In this case, there’s no need for excessive worry, as it may be caused by factors involving the throat. Cough gently, and if there’s no blood when coughing lightly, it’s likely not serious. However, if there's still blood in the sputum even when coughing lightly, it is recommended to undergo a bronchoscopy to check for tuberculosis or cancer in the bronchi.

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Written by Gong Chun
Oncology
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What tests are conducted for lung cancer?

Diagnosis of Lung Cancer: The first method can be through chest X-ray and CT scan; The second is sputum cytology examination; The third involves using a bronchoscopy; The fourth is mediastinoscopy, which allows direct observation of the enlargement of lymph nodes on both sides of the mediastinum; The fifth is to perform PET-CT, which is Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography; The sixth requires a biopsy; it can be done through a transthoracic needle biopsy, or via a bronchoscopic biopsy; The seventh is the biopsy of metastatic lesions, such as subclavian lymph nodes, and lymph node metastases in the neck or axillary areas can be examined; The eighth can involve drawing cancerous pleural effusion; if there is pleural effusion, pleural fluid cytology examination can be performed; The ninth method is thoracotomy exploration; if lung nodules or lung tumors cannot be definitively diagnosed through various other methods, thoracotomy exploration can be performed.