Types of Lung Cancer

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer, making up 85% of new cases and affecting 200,000 people each year. While non-smokers can get non-small cell lung cancer, smoking cigarettes is the greatest risk factor. Quitting smoking or not smoking at all are the best steps people can take to avoid developing this type of lung cancer.

The name comes from how this type of cancer cells looks under a microscope. The disease develops from the cells that line the inside of the lungs. 

Treatments

For more than 40% of people diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, their disease has already spread beyond their lungs at the time they’re diagnosed. However, for those who are diagnosed early, surgery to remove the primary tumor or tumors is a viable treatment approach. For those whose cancer has already spread, we use different chemotherapies, radiation therapy, and targeted immunotherapies to destroy as much cancer as possible.

Treatment options for patients with non-small cell lung cancer have increased significantly just in the past few years. Several new drugs have been approved that have been shown to be effective in prolonging the lives of people with non-small cell lung cancer.