“Bronchogenic carcinomas” is another name of lung cancer. Usually people know and hear about lung cancer stages and its complications. It’s very less that we talk about three types of lung cancer; there are two main type of lung cancer, the third type of lung cancer is Lung Carcinoid Tumor and its very rare.
Now what are these main types of cancers and its stages; the two main type of lung cancer are Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Small-Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC).
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): It is the most common type of lung cancer and near about 85% lung cancer patients are affected from NSCLC. Adenocarcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Large Cell Carcinomas are types of tumor among NSCLC patients.
Adenocarcinoma is most common type of lung cancer among men and women.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma also called epidermoid carcinoma forms in the lining of the bronchi tubes.
The NSCLC which is not Adenocarcinoma or Squamous Cell Carcinoma is Large Cell Carcinomas.
There are four stages in NSCLC :
When the cancer is only in lungs, it is a Stage-I NSCLC;
When it starts spreading and also found in nearby lymph nodes along with lungs, it is a Stage-II NSCLC;
When cancer found in lungs and in the lymph nodes in the middle of the chest, it is Stage-III NSCLC – further divided into two stages:
If cancer has spread only to the lymph nodes on the same side of cheats where the cancer started its Stage-IIIA NSCLC;
And while cancer has spread to the lymph nodes on the opposite side of the chest where the cancer started, it is Stage-IIIB NSCLC.
Most advanced stage of lung cancer is Stage-IV – this is when cancer spread on both lungs, including in the area around the lungs or another part of the body.
Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC): It is not so common form of lung cancer and only 15% lung cancer patients are affected from SCLC. It is a result of smoking and may grow and spread faster on other parts of body than NSCLC. But, SCLC is quicker to respond to chemotherapy.
There are two staging of SCLC “Limited Stage” and “Extensive Stage”:
In Limited Stage, cancer is only found in one part of lung and nearby lymph nodes.
While in Extensive Stage, cancer spreads in whole chest and other body parts.
Lung cancer staging in both NSCLC and SCLC is different, and also both types have different nature of spreading in body. When you diagnose with lung cancer, you must also get aware about type of lung cancer so as to get treatment according to it. There are lots of treatment and drugs for both NSCLC and SCLC.