Most people with lung cancer are diagnosed only when the disease is advanced. It has already spread either to tissues nearby or to more distant parts of the body. And for many people, the treatments for lung cancer don't work as well as they do for other types of cancer. There are striking success stories, and some people do live for many years after they discover they have lung cancer, but most don't.

Everyone has different priorities in their life. Research has shown that for most of us, how we feel and the enjoyment we get out of life are at least as important as how long we live. When researchers have asked people with lung cancer what is important to them, they say that their general health, their family life, their social and leisure activities, and their overall enjoyment of life come before living longer.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Montazeri A, Gillis CR, McEwen J.
Quality of life in patients with lung cancer: a review of literature from 1970 to 1995.
Chest. 1998; 113: 467-481.

 

 

 

 

 

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Wherever possible, your treatment should be designed to help you get what you want out of life. You may wish to spend time with friends or family, or you may want to stay as active or independent as possible. Some people want to think more about the spiritual side of life.

Cancer specialists do not talk about treatments that cure you because it's difficult to say when there has been a cure. Doctors may see no sign of cancer, but they can't be sure that it will not come back. Instead they look at the number of people who live two, three, five or 10 years after their treatment. Doctors call these numbers survival rates.

You may hear your doctors use other words that measure the success of treatments for lung cancer. Here's what they mean.

If you have lung cancer, you may want to know more about what will happen to you. Some people want to read this information, but others don't. If you read these tables, remember that the figures are based on the results seen with large groups of people. They can't predict what will happen to you individually. Other factors, such as your overall health when your lung cancer was diagnosed, will affect what happens to you.

To find out the survival rates for different types and stages of lung cancer, see Lung cancer survival rates.

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