Cancer Treatment :- Surgery for lung cancer

Surgery for lung cancer
Surgery is mostly used to treat non small cell lung cancer. But it may be better for you to have other cancer treatment such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy or possibly both if your cancer is very near any of the following structures

Heart
Windpipe
Gullet
Major blood vessels
Surgery is not normally used to treat small cell lung cancer, except very early ones. This is because small cell lung cancer has usually spread beyond the lung when it is diagnosed and so it is not then possible to remove it all with surgery. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are more often used than surgery for small cell lung cancer.

The type of surgery you have will depend on the size of the cancer and its position within the lung.
Removing lobes of the lung
Lobectomy is the removal of one lobe of the lung. Your surgeon will recommend this type of operation if they think the cancer is just in one part of one lung. It is the most common type of operation for lung cancer. Bilobectomy is the removal of two lobes of the lung.




















A small number of people with lung cancer have an operation called a sleeve resection. Your surgeon may do this to avoid removing your whole lung if the cancer is in the central area of the lung and is growing into one of your main airways (bronchi). In this situation a simple lobectomy can't be done. Sleeve resection involves removing the affected section of the bronchus, and any surrounding cancer in the lobe.

Removing the whole lung
Removing the whole lung is called pneumonectomy. Your specialist will recommend this operation if the tumour is in the central area of the lung and involves either the 2 lobes on the left or the 3 lobes on the right.




Many people worry that they won't be able to breathe properly with only one lung but you can breathe normally with only one lung. If you had breathing problems before the operation, you will probably still be breathless afterwards. Your doctor will arrange for you to have breathing tests before the surgery to help decide if this operation is right for you.


Removing a section of lung
Some operations remove particular areas of the lung. A wedge resection removes an area of the lung that includes part of one or more lobes. A segmentectomy removes areas of the lung along with their veins, arteries and airways. These types of operation are used when the specialist thinks the cancer has been diagnosed early and is only in one very small area. If the specialist thinks the cancer cells could be anywhere else in the lung they will not recommend this type of operation.

If your cancer has spread
If your cancer has spread to anywhere else in your body, then a major operation to remove your cancer is usually not the right treatment for you. If there are cancer cells anywhere else, the operation will not remove them and your doctor will probably suggest another type of cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy instead.

Your general health
If you have other health problems such as a severe heart condition or other lung disease, you may not be fit enough to have major lung surgery. Your surgeon will examine you thoroughly and do quite a few tests before you decide together whether an operation is right for you at all. Or whether you should have a smaller operation. Your doctor may recommend radiotherapy and you can find information about this in our section about radiotherapy for non small cell lung cancer.