General information

Lung cancer (also called Bronchial carcinoma) is the most common cancer and the most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Due to the appearance and characteristics of the tumor cells, the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, 85% of all lung cancers) is distinguished from the much rarer small cell lung cancer (SCLC, about 15%).

The two main subgroups of the NSCLC are the adenocarcinoma and the squamous cell carcinoma. All lung cancer types have in common that today the disease can only be cured through surgery at an early stage, i.e. if the tumor is not locally advanced and no distant metastases are present. If you are looking for more information on these early forms and surgical treatment, please follow the link here. If you would like to make an appointment for consultation at an early stage, please contact our lung cancer center or our second opinion consultation.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of patients is already inoperable at initial diagnosis. For these patients chemotherapy had been the only possible medical therapy for decades. However, the efficacy of chemotherapy is not satisfactory in all forms of lung cancer. Many patients do not respond to it, but even after a response, i.e. a tumor shrinkage, there is the threat of an early relapse.

The median survival time with distant metastases is approximately one year, i.e. after the first year half of the patients died. Even the new, so-called targeted drugs cannot achieve a breakthrough, if they are used without specific patient selection, based on the molecular analysis of the tumor.