As the name suggests, lung cancer originates in the lungs of the human body. According to various studies, this cancer is one of the major causes of death among people in the country. Further, it has been also observed that it claims more lives than the other types of cancer such as breast, prostate, ovarian and colon.

If you are a smoker, you are at a higher risk of lung cancer. However, people without any habit like smoking can also develop lung cancers.

Treatment of lung cancer
The treatment of lung cancer depends on factors like stage and type of lung cancer, the overall health condition of the patient and the treatment preferences of the patients. Based on these factors, doctors may suggest the below treatment procedures.

Surgery
In the surgical procedure, doctors usually try to remove the complete tumor along with a marginal amount of healthy tissues. Various studies have shown that, in lung cancer, surgeries work well, as they lead to reduced post-surgical pain, fewer complications, and improved outcomes.

Primarily, the procedure for removing lung cancer tumor includes:

• Wedge resection
  In this procedure, the cancer infected cells along with a marginal amount of healthy tissues get removed.
• Segmental resection
  In this procedure, a larger portion of the lung gets removed. However, the surgery is not conducted on the entire lobe of the lung.
• Lobectomy
  In this surgical procedure, the entire lobe of the lung gets removed.
• Pneumonectomy
  This surgical procedure is used for severe cases. This procedure is usually done to remove the entire lung.

During the surgery, doctors also work towards the removal of lymph nodes of the chest to test the signs of cancer in them. Typically, doctors adopt the surgical procedure if the cancer is confined only to your lungs. If patients have comparatively widespread lung cancer, doctors usually suggest radiation therapy or chemotherapy prior to surgery. This helps to reduce cancer cells or a tumor before the surgery and the surgical procedure become slightly easier. Further, this process also ensures that no cancer cells are left behind for any reoccurrence.

Today, various advanced surgical techniques, for example, VATS or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and minimally invasive surgery reduces hospitalization time and the treatment duration. Further, it also helps the patients to resume normal activities quickly.

Radiation therapy
During radiation therapy, high-powered energy beams such as protons and X-rays are used to kill the cancer cells. While undergoing radiation therapy, patients need to lie down on the radiation therapy table and the radiation therapy machine moves around the body of the patient and direct radiation points to cancer affected area. In the case of advanced lung cancer, radiation therapy is also provided before and after the surgical procedure. Also, in certain cases, it also gets combined with chemotherapy in severe stages. In advanced lung cancers, radiation therapy helps reduce symptoms and pain caused due to the spreading of cancer to other parts of the body.

Chemotherapy
It is a medicine-based therapy which is targeted towards destroying the cancer cells and preventing them from affecting other body parts. Chemotherapy is usually prescribed by the doctors to kill the remaining cancer cells (if any) post-surgical procedures. Moreover, for patients with advanced lung cancer, chemotherapy is prescribed for reducing the symptoms and pain caused by cancer.

To treat lung cancer effectively, an early diagnosis is essential. Hence, going for regular checkups and watching out for common signs can help treat the disease at the earliest.