Disease primer: Lung cancers

There are three main types of two cancer, depending on which cells have turned cancerous:

• Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) ~15% of cases
• Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ~85% of cases
  • Adenocarcinomas ~40% of cases
  • Squamous-cell carcinomas ~30% of cases
  • Large-cell carcinomas ~15% of cases

There are also other, rare types of lung cancer.

Diagnosis

Definitive diagnosis of lung cancer requires a biopsy of the suspected tumor be examined by a pathologist under a microscope.

Treatment

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Radiation therapy
• Targeted drugs