With early intervention, stage I lung cancer can be highly curable. Usually, your doctor will want to remove the cancer with surgery. You also may need chemo or radiation therapy if traces of cancer remain or are likely to stay. Radiation therapy is an option if you can't have or don't want surgery.
Prognosis and survival rate for stage 1 lung cancer
According to the ACS, the five-year relative survival rate is 64 percent for patients with NSCLC that hasn't spread beyond the lung. This means that 64 percent of patients treated in the recent past for localized lung cancer were alive five years after treatment.
Screening for lung cancer can save lives.
For patients who have small, early-stage lung cancer, the cure rate can be as high as 80% to 90%. Cure rates drop dramatically as the tumor becomes more advanced and involves lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
Treating stage I NSCLC
If you have stage I NSCLC, surgery may be the only treatment you need. This may be done either by taking out the lobe of the lung that has the tumor (lobectomy) or by taking out a smaller piece of the lung (sleeve resection, segmentectomy, or wedge resection).
A 2018 study found that the median doubling time varies by type of NSCLC: Adenocarcinomas had a median doubling time of 261 days. Squamous cell carcinomas had a median doubling time of 70 days. Other lung cancers, which included large cell carcinomas and SCLC, also had a median doubling time of 70 days.
When lung cancer is stage 1(localized), five-year survival rates by age group are as follows: Under 50: 83.7% Ages 50-64: 67.4% 65 and older: 54.6%
Cycles are most often 3 or 4 weeks long, and initial treatment is typically 4 to 6 cycles. The schedule varies depending on the drugs used. For example, some drugs are given only on the first day of the chemo cycle. Others are given for a few days in a row, or once a week.
In stage 1 lung cancer, people usually do not experience symptoms. When they do, the most common symptoms include shortness of breath, a persistent cough, and coughing up blood or blood-stained phlegm. Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer.
It often is diagnosed at stage 3 or 4.
People with a type of adenocarcinoma called adenocarcinoma in situ (previously called bronchioloalveolar carcinoma) tend to have a better outlook than those with other types of lung cancer.
Stage 1 is part of the number staging system and means your cancer is small. It hasn't spread to your lymph nodes or other distant organs. Stage 1 can be divided into 1A and 1B.
Stage I. A stage I lung cancer is a small tumor that has not spread to any lymph nodes. Stage I is divided into 2 substages based on the size of the tumor: Stage IA tumors are 3 centimeters (cm) or less in size.
The most common symptoms of lung cancer are: A cough that does not go away or gets worse. Coughing up blood or rust-colored sputum (spit or phlegm) Chest pain that is often worse with deep breathing, coughing, or laughing.
Survival for all stages of lung cancer
around 15 out of every 100 people (around 15%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more. 10 out of every 100 people (10%) will survive their cancer for 10 years or more.
Chemotherapy is usually not part of the treatment regimen for earlier stages of cancer. Stage 1 is highly treatable, however, it does require treatment, typically surgery and often radiation, or a combination of the two.
63 percent for cases when the disease is limited to the lungs. 35 percent if the lung cancer has reached nearby organs or lymph nodes. 7 percent if it has spread to distant organs such as the liver.
For example, the median age at diagnosis is 62 years for breast cancer, 67 years for colorectal cancer, 71 years for lung cancer, and 66 years for prostate cancer. But cancer can be diagnosed at any age.
It takes around 8 years for a squamous cell carcinoma, for example, to reach a size of 30 mm when it is most commonly diagnosed so, by the time symptoms arise, the risk of metastasis is considerable. Once symptoms appear they are often ignored by patients, delaying the diagnosis and treatment even further.
While it's possible for lung cancer to spread virtually anywhere, it most commonly metastasizes in the liver, brain, bones or adrenal glands.
Without treatment, the outlook for lung cancer is poor. A 2013 review of studies found that the average survival time for people with NSCLC who do not receive treatment is just over 7 months . A 2012 review found that the survival time for untreated SCLC is in the range of 2–4 months.
In some cases, cancer cells in the lymph nodes can be completely killed off before surgery. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has doubled the cure rate for people with stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer. It has cured people with some forms of lung cancer who would not have been cured by surgery alone.
A 2021 study compared the one-year and three-year survival rates of people with stage 1A NSCLC who received either stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) or surgery. For both groups, the overall survival was 91% at one year.
Treatment is much like getting an x-ray, but the radiation dose is stronger. The procedure itself is painless and each treatment lasts only a few minutes. Most often, radiation treatments to the lungs are given 5 days a week for 5 to 7 weeks, but this can vary based on the type of EBRT and the reason it's being given.
Being diagnosed with lung cancer is a terrifying place to be. However, with advances in treatment, more people are living longer and living well with lung cancer. If you have been diagnosed with lung cancer, you can make positive lifestyle choices and changes to improve your quality of life.