How To

How to Treat Lung Cancer

Contributor
By eHow Contributing Writer
(10 Ratings)

Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate out of all forms of cancers. In many cases, lung cancer is not detected until it is in the advanced stages and makes treatment more difficult. Early treatment of lung cancer greatly increases your chances of survival.

From Quick Guide: Lung Cancer
Difficulty: Challenging
Instructions
  1. Step 1

    See an oncologist to go over treatments for the lung cancer. He can let you know the risks and benefits of each cancer treatment.

  2. Step 2

    Get chemotherapy or radiation to kill the cancer cells. In chemotherapy, medications are administered to the patient in order to treat the cancer found in the body. Radiation therapy uses different types of radiation to rid the body of cancer.

  3. Step 3

    Find out if you are able to undergo surgery. In the early stages of lung cancer, you may be eligible to have surgery to remove the cancer from the lungs. The surgeon may only remove the tumor or, in rarer cases, take out the entire lung.

  4. Step 4

    See a physician for follow up care. You need to be retested after lung cancer treatments to make sure that the cancer is gone from your system.

  5. Step 5

    Join a support group if you are going through treatments for lung cancer. Your doctor or local hospital can put you in touch with a support group in the area.

Tips & Warnings
  • Surgery is usually not a treatment option for patients with advanced stages of lung cancer. The reason for this is that, by the time of detection, the cancer has already spread.
  • Lung cancer is one of the most preventable cancers in existence. If a person stops smoking, they greatly decrease their chances of developing the cancer.

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eHow Article: How to Treat Lung Cancer

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