The stages of lung cancer

When getting diagnosed with lung cancer, it is understandable that there are many questions, concerns, and fears.  It is not an easy time in one’s life.  The best way to calm your fears is to educate yourself as much as you can about your diagnosis and get all your questions answered.
Sadly, most cases of lung cancer are not diagnosed until the later stages, where the possibility of cure is so much less.  Lung cancer is said to take more American lives than any other cancer, but mostly because the symptoms and warning signs are not evident until the later stages.  For this reason, doctors stress the importance of getting CT scans if you believe you are at high risk for lung cancer.
Once diagnosed with lung cancer, you are generally given a stage for your cancer.  The stage determines the extent of your cancer and can help you decide which treatment options are best and help you understand your own chances of survival.
There are two types of staging: Non-small cell lung cancer and Small cell lung cancer.  Non-small cell lung cancer is broken down into four or five different stages, while small cell lung cancer has two types.
Non-small cell lung cancer:

Stage I:The cancer has invaded the lung tissue, but not the lymph nodes.
Options:     Normally only surgery is done at this stage.

Stage II:The cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes or the chest wall.
Options:       A combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are commonly performed.

Stage IIIA:The cancer is now in the middle of the chest and lymph nodes.
Options:       At this point chemotherapy and radiation are combined, and surgery is a possibility depending on the status of the patient after chemotherapy and radiation.

Stage IIIB:The cancer has spread to other areas within the chest such as the heart, blood vessels, trachea, and esophagus or it is in lymph nodes in other areas of the body.
Options:       Chemotherapy is used at this stage and it is possible that the doctor would want to  combine this with radiation, depending on the patient’s condition.

Stage IV:     The cancer is now in several parts of the body, such as the bones, brain, and liver.
Options:       Chemotherapy is combined with targeted drug therapy.  At this point clinical trials and supportive care are suggested to patient.

Small cell lung cancer:
Limited:       Cancer is only prevalent in one lung and surrounding lymph nodes.
Options:       Combined chemotherapy and radiation, and sometimes surgery.

Extensive:   Cancer has spread beyond the lung and nearby lymph nodes.  Possibilities may be that it has invaded both lungs or other organs.
Options:       Chemotherapy, clinical trials, and supportive care

       When considering your treatment options it is good to understand what they are.  Your options for lung cancer surgery are wedge resection (remove section of lung), lobectomy (remove lobe of lung), or pneumonectomy (remove entire lung).  Chemotherapy is drug treatments.  Radiation uses high powered energy beams to kill cancer cells.  Targeted drug therapy can stop tumors or stop cancer cells from growing and dividing.  Clinical trials and supportive care vary by clinics and doctors.