What Is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- It affects smokers and non-smokers.
- Treatments are very different from those for small-cell lung cancer.
- The outlook is better for this more common lung cancer.
"Of course, the typing of lung cancers isn't always that clean," Geoffrey Oxnard, MD, a thoracic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, told SurvivorNet. "But, we like for a lung cancer to fall into one of these categories, so we can better understand its biology and its treatment."
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Named for What It's Not
Read More- Adenocarcinoma is the most common type. It grows in cells that secrete mucus. Found on the outside of lungs, it's more likely to be found before it spreads.
- Squamous cell carcinoma starts in the flat cells that line the airways.
- Large cell carcinoma can start anywhere, and grows and spreads faster than the other types.
Anyone Can Get Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
While small-cell lung cancer is tightly linked to smoking, anyone can get non-small cell lung cancer. About one in five men and half of the women who get it are non-smokers."Adenocarcinoma is the most common lung cancer in both smokers and never smokers," Raja Flores, MD, a thoracic surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, tells SurvivorNet. "But, we see more adenocarcinoma in never smokers compared to more squamous cell in those who smoke."
Related: You Never Smoked But Still Got Lung Cancer! Treatment Options May Be Different For You
Different Treatment Options, Better Outlook
When doctors find lung cancer early enough to remove it from the lungs with surgery, that's the best case scenario. When it has spread and become inoperable, doctors consider other treatment options. Non-small cell lung cancers may respond to newer cancer treatments called targeted therapy and immunotherapy.
Related: Comprehensive Biomarker Testing – Who Needs It? & What’s It For?
People who have advanced stage non-small cell adenocarcinoma may be candidates for targeted therapy. It's a daily pill and it disables the specific gene in the lung tumor that is causing it to grow and thrive. Non-small adenocarcinomas are most likely to have the types of genes that these drugs can attack.
The Importance of Genetics in Late-Stage Lung Cancers
People whose non-small lung cancer is not right for targeted therapy may respond to a type of immunotherapy called checkpoint inhibitors. These drugs essentially teach the body's own immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
Both types of drugs have substantially extended the lives of people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. This partly explains the better survival rates in non-small cell compared to small cell lung cancer. Thanks to targeted therapy and immunotherapy, some people with metastatic lung cancer live for years.
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