Treatment for lung cancer will depend on the type you have, the stage of the cancer, your lung function, and your general health. Before you can begin any type of treatment, if you are a smoker, you must cease smoking. Non small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, is the most common type, making up 85% of all lung cancers. It grows very slowly compared to small cell cancer, but it can spread to other parts of the body before diagnosis. The timing of diagnosis and treatment is key. Let’s investigate radiation therapy and early stage lung cancer: treatment options.
How Radiation Therapy Is Used for Treatment
Using radiation therapy depends on the patient’s stage of the NSCLC.
As a treatment plan:
- It could be the main treatment in addition to chemotherapy if your physician cannot remove the tumor due to its size or location.
- It may be the main treatment if the patient does not want to have surgery.
- It might be used after surgery to remove any small amounts of cancer left.
- It could be used to reduce a large tumor before proceeding with surgery.
- It is used to treat areas where the cancer has spread.
- It is also utilized to treat symptoms in palliative care.
What Are the Types of Radiation Therapy Used?
There are three main forms of radiation therapy used for NSCLC. They include the following:
External Beam Radiation Therapy
This treatment focuses on radiation from outside of the body, and is the main type used of the three. It is similar to an X-ray, however, the dose of radiation is higher. The treatment only lasts a few minutes and is painless with treatments usually 5 days per week for 5 to 7 weeks.
Brachytherapy
This is an example of internal radiation therapy. It can be used to reduce the size of tumors in the airways and to relieve symptoms. Tiny radiation pellets are directly inserted into the tumor or adjacent to the tumor in the airway. Since the radiation only travels a small distance, it limits any negative effects on nearby healthy tissue.
Proton Therapy
This type is continuing to be studied. It is used with patients in stage III. In contrast to X-rays, proton therapy beams are less prone to causing harm to nearby organs like the esophagus or the heart. It is only available in specialized cancer treatment centers.
Potential Side Effects of Radiation Therapy
When having radiation therapy for lung cancer you can expect side effects like nausea and vomiting. Fatigue, weight loss from loss of appetite, and hair loss. You might also experience redness, blistering, and peeling skin where the therapy is being directed.
If you are having chemo along with radiation therapy, the side effects could be more severe.
Other side effects will dissipate after the treatment concludes, but you could expect problems breathing, shortness of breath, sore throat, trouble swallowing, and the inability to consume anything apart from soft foods or liquids for a period of time.
If the brain is affected, expect memory loss, headaches, and trouble thinking.
What to Expect – Prognosis
Non small cell lung cancer is curable if diagnosed and treated early.
Prognosis depends on the stage or the cancer. For example, the five year survival rate for early stage NSCLC is 63%. Therefore, 63% of people diagnosed with lung cancer are still alive five years later.
The five year survival rate for someone whose cancer has spread to nearby tissue and lymph nodes is 35%.
If the cancer has metastasized, the five year survival rate is 7%.
Of course, the above outlooks are only estimates.
Note any shortness of breath and a cough that does not go away as the earliest signs of lung cancer.
Contact South Carolina Oncology Associates at (803) 461-3000 if you or a loved one has lung cancer and would like to explore radiation therapy at our office in Columbia, SC.
