Does small cell lung cancer affect life expectancy?

Do you know about small cell lung cancer? Do you know how it occurs? In fact, this disease often occurs in the bronchi, causing respiratory disorders and seriously threatening people's health. Let us now understand whether small cell lung cancer affects life expectancy.

Small cell lung cancer, also known as oat cell lung cancer, is a type of lung cancer. Two out of ten lung cancer patients suffer from small cell cancer. This is a highly deteriorating disease that poses a great threat to the patient's life. The probability of a patient with small cell lung cancer surviving for more than 5 years is very low, and systemic chemotherapy is generally used for treatment. However, the survival of patients with small cell lung cancer mainly depends on the type and spread of the patient's lung cancer, as well as the patient's mentality. The median survival of patients with small cell lung cancer is about one to one and a half years, and in the extensive stage it is half a year to ten months.

The survival of small cell lung cancer is related to the type of lung cancer that is first diagnosed. If the patient is in the early stage of non-small cell lung cancer, the cure rate is as high as 30%, which is much higher than that of patients who have been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer.

The survival of most patients with small cell lung cancer is mainly determined by the spread of cancer cells and the patient's physical condition. The survival period ranges from a few months to several years. In addition, the correct treatment plan has a great effect on prolonging the patient's survival.

Small cell lung cancer accounts for about 20% of lung cancer. It is highly malignant, has a short doubling time, metastasizes early and widely, is sensitive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and has a high initial remission rate. However, it is very prone to secondary drug resistance and relapse, and treatment is mainly based on systemic chemotherapy. Small cell lung cancer is the least differentiated and most malignant type of lung cancer. It often occurs in the central part of the lung, grows rapidly, and metastasizes early. Under a light microscope, cancer cells are small and short spindle-shaped or lymphocyte-like, with little cytoplasm and a naked nucleus-like shape. Cancer cells are densely arranged in groups, separated by connective tissue, and sometimes cancer cells are arranged in groups around small blood vessels.

Whether the treatment of advanced small cell lung cancer is appropriate is the most important factor affecting how long patients with advanced lung cancer can live. As for the treatment of advanced lung cancer, the possibility of surgical resection is very low. The main treatments for advanced small cell lung cancer in clinical practice are radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and biological immunotherapy. If patients give up treatment, they may only have a few months left to live, but with proper treatment, life can be extended to 3 to 5 years.