Is There a Cure for Lung Cancer?

Unfortunately, there is no universal cure for lung cancer. However, treatments for this dreaded disease have come a long way. While this does not mean that all patients can be cured, some can be successfully treated in a way that either delays progression of the disease or eliminates it completely.

Most standard treatments for lung cancer include some combination of surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments. Which of these treatments are used depend on the specific type of lung cancer, its stage of progression and other patient factors. Generally, tumors which are caught earlier, at a smaller size and in an earlier stage before they have spread, have the greatest likelihood of a cure with treatment.

Photodynamic therapy is a newer modality of treatment that shows promise for some types of lung cancer, particularly for smaller tumors which are in the larger airways in the lungs. A "light-activated" chemotherapy drug is given to the patient. This drug does not do damage to cells in its initial form. However, the patient then has a bronchoscope guided into the airways and a laser transmits light at a specific wavelength to the tumor. This light activates the drug in the tumor, causing local destruction of the cancer cells. While it does not have widespread applicability to all patients with lung cancer and thus is not a universal treatment or cure for lung cancer, it does show promise in some clinical situations.

Lung cancer treatment is an ongoing topic of research around the world and new treatments are being tested all the time. Some newer drugs (such as Avastin and Tarceva for non-small cell lung cancer) have already been used in lung cancer treatment with promising results in some patients. Again, none have been found to be a universal cure for all patients, but they add to the armamentarium of treatments that oncologists have at their disposal to attempt to control these malignant tumors.