There are both primary and secondary lung cancers. Only primary lung cancers actually begin in the lungs – secondary cancers spread to the lungs from elsewhere in the body.
Primary lung cancers can be classified in two main groups:
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a less-common form of lung cancer, which tends to spread. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for more than 70% of all lung cancers, and occurs in three common variant forms, which tend to behave and respond in similar ways. These NSCLC sub-types are:
When your NSCLC cancer cells are insufficiently developed to allow positive identification, they are described as forming an undifferentiated cancer.
The scale of treatment will depend upon several factors, including the developmental stage of your cancer. You may be recommended for more than one treatment at once, which could take the form of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment or a targeted drug therapy.
Surgical interventions to remove lung cancers include:
After surgery, a respiratory therapist may introduce some breathing exercises to speed your recovery.
Chemotherapy uses a powerful combination of drugs to destroy cancer cells, and is often used alongside surgery.
Radiation therapy uses high-powered X-rays and other energy beams to eradicate cancerous cells. The treatment may use either external radiation therapy or brachytherapy (which targets cancer cells with radiation sources inside your body). Stereotactic body radiotherapy is a multi-angle form of radiation treatment designed to destroy small cancer tumours.
This is a more recent form of cancer treatment, often used in tandem with chemotherapy, which is designed to target specific abnormalities that have been identified in cancerous cells.
A pulmonologist is required to complete medical school training and then undertake a residency training to gain a medical qualification in internal medicine. A minimum of two further years of fellowship training are then necessary to gain certification in pulmonary medicine. Many pulmonologists later go on to study additional pulmonary specialisms, such as interventional pulmonology and paediatric pulmonology.
A thoracic oncologist will follow a similar study route in the field of oncology, and will require a doctoral degree as a minimum qualification. This particular subspecialty will require training and experience gained via internships, residencies and then a fellowship study.
Other specialists who may work collaboratively with a lung cancer specialist often include:
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