The more critical a cancer case is, the less is the chance of surviving it. The critical stages of lung cancer can be determined by the extent at which it has developed by spreading. Stage two to four of non-small cell cancer are the critical stages in which the cancer has spread to the limit of not being curable. The critical stages can be determined by the size of the tumor, the number of organs affected, and how far it has spread around the body. In small cell lung cancer, the extensive stage is the critical stage in which the cancer has spread beyond the lungs to other parts of the body.
Apparently, these critical stages are the stages in which the patient find it difficult to live longer. Most times during treatment, complications occur due to the advancement of the cancer. Careful diagnosis are always carried out before commencing treatment on critical stages of lung cancer; this is important so as to determine every location of the cancer. Sometimes, doctors take it upon themselves to reveal the bitter truth to cancer patients when they discover how critical the extent of the cancer disease is. But, from the right point of view, doctors shouldn’t be divulging the truth to cancer patient as this will increase fear in the patient.
However, when lung cancer has reached the critical stage, symptoms begin to show rapidly, and the symptoms are so obvious that it doesn’t take the doctor much time to know what exactly is wrong and what next to do. Symptoms enables the doctor to know the type of lung cancer a patient is suffering from, and then further test such as computed tomography and diagnosis will be carried out to determine the extent of the cancer. The computed tomography is primarily used to determine the size of the tumor in the lung. The more critical and advanced a lung cancer is, the easier it is to be detected. Stage zero to two non-small cell lung cancer has little detection percentage of about 4%, while stage three and four non-small cell lung cancer has high detection percentage of about 11-15%. Lung cancer detected at the critical stage cannot be cured, but it can be controlled.