Lung cancer
12 articles shown
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for Lung Cancer: Another Path When Surgery Is Not an Option
SBRT (stereotactic body radiation therapy) delivers a high dose of radiation precisely to a lung tumor in just 3 to 8 sessions. For early-stage lung cancer patients who cannot undergo surgery, it offers an outpatient alternative with quick recovery, though it carries risks such as radiation pneumonitis and requires careful follow-up. The decision depends on tumor size, location, and lung function, and should be made together with your doctor.
Lung Cancer Tissue and Gene Tests (EGFR, ALK, PD-L1): Why the Wait Is Worth It
After a lung cancer diagnosis, a biopsy sorts out the type of cancer, and additional tests look for gene mutations like EGFR and ALK and for PD-L1 expression. Because these results determine whether targeted or immune therapy can be used, the wait of days to weeks, frustrating as it is, becomes the most important guide for choosing the direction of treatment.
How Do I Tell My Family About a Lung Cancer Diagnosis — Starting the Conversation
Telling family about a lung cancer diagnosis can feel as heavy as the treatment itself. There is no single right answer for whom to tell first, when, or how much. This piece offers emotional support and gentle openings for that first conversation: not blaming yourself, not carrying the weight alone, and being honest yet reassuring with children.
Bone Metastasis from Lung Cancer: Treatments That Tame Pain and Fractures
Lung cancer spreads readily to bone, often causing pain or fractures in the spine, pelvis, and ribs. Radiation therapy calms painful sites, while bone-protecting drugs such as zoledronic acid and denosumab reduce fractures and high blood calcium. Pain medication, surgical fixation, and targeted or immune therapy are combined, with the goal of preserving quality of life.
Keeping My Daily Life While on Targeted Therapy — Until Resistance Comes
A first-person account of life on a once-a-day targeted drug after an EGFR-mutant lung cancer diagnosis: managing skin rash, diarrhea, and cracked nails; the habit of taking the pill every day; and living an ordinary today while quietly fearing the resistance that will eventually arrive.
The Days I Had Lung SBRT: What I Prepared For
Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for lung cancer delivers high-dose radiation to the tumor in a few short, focused sessions. This practical guide walks step by step through CT simulation, holding a fixed position, breath control, what to wear and eat on treatment days, and managing fatigue and cough afterward.
Does Quitting Smoking After a Lung Cancer Diagnosis Really Change Anything?
Even after a lung cancer diagnosis, it is not too late to quit smoking. Stopping speeds up surgical recovery, improves how you respond to chemotherapy and radiation, reduces side effects, and lowers the risk of recurrence and new cancers. If your willpower wavers, patches, counseling, and smoking-cessation clinics are there to help.
When You're Short of Breath and the Cough Won't Stop: What Lung Cancer Patients Can Try at Home
A practical guide to helping lung cancer patients get through breathlessness and coughing more easily in daily life. It covers pursed-lip breathing with a long exhale, leaning the upper body forward and using airflow toward the face, handling coughs differently depending on whether there's phlegm, managing humidity and irritants, sleeping with the upper body raised, and the warning signs that mean you need to get to a hospital right away.
Lung Cancer Staging: What the Numbers Tell You, and What Comes Next in Treatment
Lung cancer staging combines tumor size (T), lymph node involvement (N), and metastasis (M) into stages 1 through 4 — a kind of map of where the cancer stands inside your body. Even at the same stage, the details and the type of cancer (non-small cell vs. small cell) steer treatment toward surgery, radiation, or drug therapy, and the stage itself can be reassessed as treatment progresses.
Lung Cancer Without Ever Smoking? Causes and Testing for Non-Smokers
Lung cancer can develop even if you've never smoked. Environmental factors like secondhand smoke, radon, and occupational exposure, along with gene mutations such as EGFR and ALK, are the main culprits, and early on there are almost no symptoms. It's confirmed with low-dose chest CT and tissue and genetic testing, and if you have risk factors, it's wise to discuss screening timing with your doctor in advance.
When Your Appetite Disappears, How to Still Get One Spoonful Down
A practical look at how to keep eating, even just a spoonful, when your appetite vanishes during lung cancer treatment. Eating small amounts often, adding protein to porridge, choosing lukewarm or cold foods that smell less, drinking your calories, and catching the times of day when your appetite returns. If you lose weight or have serious trouble swallowing, tell your care team right away.
Starting immunotherapy for lung cancer (immune checkpoint inhibitors): what's worth knowing first
A patient-friendly rundown of how immune checkpoint inhibitors for lung cancer work, why PD-L1 and genetic testing matters before treatment, and what to expect from immune-related side effects and the phenomenon of pseudoprogression.