Lung cancer is the result of cells within the lungs developing genetic mutations that cause them to grow abnormally quickly and to invade other surrounding tissue. Although surgery is often the preferred treatment for cancer of the lower lungs, some cases of lower lung cancer may be inoperable if the tumor is near arteries or is too widespread to be effectively treated by surgery. In these cases, patients may explore other treatment options.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is one treatment option for cancer of the lower lung that cannot be treated via surgery. Chemotherapy, the American Cancer Society explains, involves the use of drugs injected into a vein or taken by mouth. These medications work by killing cancerous cells wherever they occur in the body, which means that they are able to treat cases of cancer that have spread. Chemotherapy is also very effective at treating a type of lung cancer known as small cell lung cancer.
Chemotherapy is usually given as a series of treatments, known as a cycle, which consists of several rounds of treatment followed by time to allow the body to rest and recover. Although the first cycle of chemotherapy may involve between four and six rounds, subsequent cycles require three or four rounds. Chemotherapy can cause side effects that include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, hair loss and a depressed immune system.
Radiation
Radiation treatment uses bursts of energy known as ionizing radiation. The beams of radiation damage the proteins and genetic material of cells. Because cancer cells divide abnormally quickly, they are often more sensitive to this kind of cellular damage and die in response to radiation treatment. External beam radiation therapy, in which a machine outside of the body produces and aims the radiation at the patient, can treat lower lung cancer. A computer attempts to focus as much of the beams of radiation as possible on the tumor cells while minimizing radiation exposure to the surrounding tissue.
Radiation treatments can result in nausea, fatigue, localized hair loss and irritation or redness of the tissue around the tumor. Radiation used to treat cancer of the lower lung can result in lung inflammation and carries the risk of scarring.
Targeted Therapies
Targeted therapies are treatments for lung cancer designed to inhibit specific processes that the lung cancer cells need to divide and survive, UpToDate reports. Some of these therapies, including cetuximab, gefitinib and erlotinib, work by targeting a protein known as epidermal growth factor receptor. This protein is responsible for binding to a chemical that stimulates cells to divide. The targeted therapies block off this receptor, which means that the cancer cells lose some of the cellular signals that they use to promote their rapid division. Another targeted therapy, bevacizumab, blocks a protein responsible for helping lung tumors form new blood vessels. Patients may need to have special tests run on tumor samples to determine if their variety of lower lung cancer will respond to these targeted treatments.
