In the US, it is estimated that the lung cancer stands first in causing death among the cancer patients and the survival rate is only 14 percent. Small cell lung cancer is said to be one of the fastest growing cancers and is mainly caused due to smoking. The success rate of treating this cancer mainly depends on the disease stage and the treatment employed and caused due to smoking.

Small cell lung cancer is mainly seen in the bronchi of the lungs at first and later the cancer-causing cells grow and develop into a tumor. Then they metastasize to other parts of the body. The cancer cell inside of the patient secretes hormones that may cause the metastases of cancer that is called as paraneoplastic phenomenon. The hormones secreted by small cell tumors are adrenocorticotropic hormone and antidiuretic hormone that may cause Cushing’s disease and increased water retention respectively.

The chemicals that these cells produce also affect the nervous system abruptly. The blood flow help metastases of cancer to various parts of the body and the veins gets blocked as the tumor growth progresses in size and that requires the medical emergencies. Small cell lung cancer often affects people above the age of 45.

Limited stage cancer is the presence of tumor only within the lymph nodes and is often treated with the chemotherapy, radiation therapy, cranial irradiation, etc and also removed by surgery. Extensive stage cancer occurs when the cancer metastasizes to other parts of the body. The CNS is prone to getting affected with during this stage. The patient survives only for few weeks without any medication and few months with medication.

The recurrent stage is often treated with the help of combination of therapies. The National Cancer Institute suggests that the combination therapy in which more than one therapy is employed to treat the disease. This may likely to increase the survival rate but still the survival rate is lower for small cell lung cancers.

X-rays are used for radiation therapy and the patients suffer from the side-effects caused by the treatment. The National Cancer Institute reports that around 10 percent of patients show no disease after the therapy. Usually chemotherapy drugs are given to patients after radiation therapy. The drugs are given either through injection or as tablets. They enter the blood and kill the remaining cancer-causing cells, if any. These drugs can help the survival rates to rise to some extent.

More Articles :

• Alternative Experimental Lung Cancer Treatment
• Benefits And Treatment For Lung Cancer
• Current Research For Lung Cancer
• Lung Cancer Stages
• Lung Cancer Symptoms
• Most Promising Lung Cancer Treatment
• Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Trials
• Prognosis Of Small Cell Lung Cancer
• Top Rated Lung Cancer Treatment Centers In Us
• Treatments For Copd Lung Cancer