How is lung cancer treated: what are the treatment options and can it be cured?

In general, in oncology, treatment is guided by the type of tumour, stage of the disease, general health, associated diseases, state of the organism, etc.

Before choosing a therapy and then evaluating the effect of the treatment, it is necessary to assess whether the disease is widespread in the body and where it is located.

It often happens that the patient loses precious time while we are investigating his current condition.

Nowadays, depending on the presence of specific genetic mutations, the immunological status of the tumour, it is possible to adapt the treatment to the patient. We can give better targeted therapy.

It's not possible to give targeted therapy to every patient. It depends on many factors.

Not every subtype of lung cancer responds to this new personalised treatment.

Types of cancer treatment:

• curative treatment - the aim is to cure the patient.
• palliative treatment - the aim is to improve the patient's quality of life and prolong his or her life
• adjuvant treatment - given in the absence of microscopic disease to treat any micrometastatic disease, subsequently reducing the risk of disease recurrence and improving overall patient survival
• neoadjuvant treatment - given before curative treatment options (e.g. administration of chemotherapy to reduce tumour size before surgery) to improve treatment efficacy.

The main treatment modalities are surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and combination chemoradiotherapy.

New treatment approaches include biological therapy and immunotherapy. A closer understanding of the biology and immunological behaviour of tumours in the body allows, after detailed analyses, to act directly on the specific target structure and prevent the growth of tumour tissue.

Targeted therapy uses the direct action of various substances, such as enzymes, to stop the formation and growth of new tumour blood vessels (inhibition of angiogenesis). If genetic mutations are identified, treatment is directed at these mutations.

Immunotherapy uses the immune system and its natural defences to fight abnormal cancer cells. It focuses on suppressing (inhibiting) immune system checkpoints, called checkpoint inhibitors.

This treatment is not suitable for every patient. It will not have the desired effect unless the tumour cells produce specific proteins on their surface that are then detected by the immune system cells.