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.