Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - Complications

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Other Factors Determining Treatment Choices and Outcome

Staging factors are used to help determine treatment and outlook. The following suggest a more aggressive disease:

• The presence of respiratory symptoms
• A tumor larger than 3 cm
• High numbers of blood vessels in the tumor

Researchers are always looking for more accurate ways to determine lung cancer treatment and outlook. For example, some research involves specific biomarkers and related blood vessel development within tumors. These markers might eventually help predict the cancer's aggressiveness and determine the best treatment approach.

Using the information, lung cancer is divided into stages, I through IV. Stages I through III, are further divided into A or B (for example stage IA and IB). Each stage will usually have a different approach to treatment.

Review Date: 07/01/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).

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