Surgery Surgical treatment removal of the tumor remains the mainstay of curative treatment for
non-small cell lung cancer. This will usually involve removing a lobe of the lung. Less commonly, the entire lung may have to be removed.
Radiation If surgery is not considered feasible either because of the patient's condition or because the
lymph nodes are so involved that surgery could not remove all the cancer, then radiation therapy can be used as the primary treatment.
Chemotherapy The role of chemotherapy has not yet been completely defined, although it has been
found to be more successful since the advent of platinum compounds. In Stage III disease, the response rate to combination chemotherapy has been reported to be in excess of 50 percent. In Stage IV disease, the response rate is lower.
When a platinum drug is combined with drugs such as vinblastine , vindesine or etoposide , response rates of about 30 percent have been observed in Stage IV cancer. These agents may give palliative benefit by reducing the size of the tumor and relieving the symptoms. Recent trials using cisplatin-based regimens have shown an average improvement in survival of three months. This observation suggests that chemotherapy might be used earlier in treatment in hopes of improving survival.
