Lung Cancer Treatment in Utah

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the world and the second most common cancer in both men and women in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 234,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease each year.

Symptoms of Lung Cancer:

Lung cancer symptoms vary from person to person. Early on in the disease, people with lung cancer may not have any symptoms. Often, symptoms are easily confused with common respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis or pneumonia, delaying an accurate diagnosis.

If you have symptoms of lung cancer, they may include:

  • A cough that does not go away and gets worse over time
  • Constant chest pain, often made worse by deep breathing, coughing, or laughing
  • Arm or shoulder pain
  • Coughing up blood or rust-colored phlegm
  • Shortness of breath, wheezing, or hoarseness. This can happen when a lung tumor blocks major airways within the lungs. Lung cancer can also lead to the accumulation of fluid in the chest cavity (pleural effusion), which can make it harder for the lungs to expand fully.
  • Repeated episodes of pneumonia or bronchitis
  • Swelling of the neck and face. This occurs when the tumor compresses a large vein, the superior vena cava, that moves blood to the heart from the head and arms
  • Loss of appetite and/or weight loss
  • Feeling weak or tired
  • Widening of the fingertips and nailbed also known as “clubbing.” This symptom is common in non-small cell lung cancer cases, but rare for small cell lung cancer.

If lung cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it may cause:

  • Bone pain
  • Arm or leg weakness or numbness
  • Headache, dizziness, or seizure
  • Balance problems or an unsteady gait
  • Jaundice (yellow coloring) of skin and eyes
  • Swollen lymph nodes in the neck or shoulder

These symptoms do not always mean you have lung cancer. However, it is important to discuss any lung cancer symptoms with your doctor, since they may also signal other health problems. In rare cases, lung cancer can be passed down from one generation to the next.

Lung Cancer Treatment Options:

Your treatment for lung cancer will be customized to your particular needs. It may include one or more of the following therapies to treat the cancer and help relieve symptoms.

  • Surgery may be a good option for those with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. 
  • Radiation therapy uses focused, high-energy photon beams to destroy lung cancer cells.
  • Proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy, proton therapy delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor, sparing nearby healthy tissue and organs.
  • Systemic therapy is an umbrella term for treatments that use substances that travel through the bloodstream to reach affected cells all over the body.
  • Targeted therapy stops or slows the growth of cancer by interfering with, or targeting, these molecules.
  • Immunotherapy recruit the body’s own immune system in the fight against cancer.
  • Chemotherapy uses drugs to directly kill cancer cells by stopping their growth.
  • Angiogenesis inhibitors or anti-angiogenic therapy, are developed by researchers to disrupt the growth process which prohibits angiogenesis activating.