Depending on where the cancer has spread to and the size of the tumors, there are several treatments available. The purpose of treatment is to improve the quality and quantity of the patient's life by minimizing symptoms and relieving pain. Taking into account your situation and lifestyle, your doctor will help you find the best treatment option available for you.
Metastatic lung cancer is often too widespread to treat with surgery alone. However, in addition to other treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy, surgery may be recommended to remove any tumors or metastases (examples : brain, spinal cord or adrenal metastases. Surgery is mainly used to treat non-metastatic lung cancer or metastatic lung cancer with only few metastases (examples, brain, spinal cord, or adrenal metastases).
Chemotherapy is a type of drug therapy that kills cancer cells by stopping their growth. Chemotherapy has been shown to prolong life for patients with metastatic lung cancer and is usually the first treatment considered. Since the drugs travel through the bloodstream to reach the cancer cells, chemotherapy is considered a systemic treatment because it affects the entire body. It is common for two or more drugs to be combined in order to be more effective in attacking the cancer.
Whereas normal chemotherapy affects all cells in the body, targeted therapy is a type of chemotherapy in which the drugs are specifically aimed at cancer cells. These drugs attack specific parts of the cancer cells in order to stop their growth. They are typically used in conjunction with chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Cancer immunotherapy is a type of treatment that harnesses the patient’s immune system to attack and destroy tumor cells. The immune system has checkpoints to keep it from attacking normal cells in the body and cancer cells can use these checkpoints to avoid being destroyed by the immune system. Checkpoint inhibition is now approved for the treatment of metastatic small cell cancer and non-small cell cancer of the lung. This new class of drug is given by itself or in combination with chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to destroy cancerous cells or make tumors smaller or slow the progression of tumor growth. It may also be used after surgery to destroy any remaining cancerous cells. The radiation may be given from an outside source (external radiation) or from radioactive materials put directly into or near a tumor (internal radiation). External radiation is the type most often used for lung cancer. Radiation therapy alleviates pain and diminishes symptoms associated with metastatic lung cancer. It is most commonly used for treatment of metastases in the bones or brain, particularly to alleviate symptoms (i.e.pain).
Radiation ablation is a minimally invasive treatment that heats and destroys cancer cells. In radiation ablation, the doctor uses imaging tools (such as ultrasound or MRI) to guide a needle electrode into the tumor. The electrode then delivers high-frequency electrical currents to the tumor to kill the cancer cells. Radiation ablation is mainly used to treat non-metastatic lung cancer, but it can be used to shrink large tumors or eliminate a small number of tumors in patients with metastatic lung cancer. Advantages of Ablation: Ablation can offer a minimally invasive approach to treating lung metastases, potentially preserving pulmonary function. It can also be an option for patients who are not candidates for surgery. It is most often used to complement chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Clinical trials allow patients to try a new treatment before it is available to the general public. In some cases, this may be a new drug that has not been used in humans before, or it may be a drug or drug combination that is not currently used for that specific type of cancer. Early phase clinical trials are often used to test side effects of a drug or drug combination, while later phase clinical trials are used to see how effective a new treatment might be for a certain type of cancer. Clinical trials allow doctors and researchers to improve the treatment of cancers with possibly more effective therapies. A clinical trial may be a new, groundbreaking drug or it may have no effect. It is important to talk with your doctor about the pros and cons of clinical trials for your particular situation.
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