Treatment of lung cancer

Due to the inadequacy of current treatments and late-stage diagnosis, only about 10% of non-HIV related lung cancers are cured. The three main types of treatment are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. About half of people with lung cancer are not candidates for surgery due to the spread of the cancer.

Radiation therapy generally does not cure lung cancer. Rather, it improves and extends a person's quality of life. Chemotherapy or drug treatment is the primary treatment for small cell cancer, and may kill the cancer, particularly if it is restricted to the lung.

HIV-infection does not appear to affect survival after diagnosis with lung cancer, but antiretroviral treatment has been associated with extended surival.1

A retrospective analysis of 49 French people with HIV diagnosed with lung cancer found a median survival time of nine months in those who received antiretroviral treatment compared to four months in those who did not.2 Overall survival time from diagnosis of lung cancer was a little over eight months. The survival rate at one year after diagnosis was 34%, 17% at two years and 7% after five years. Factors associated with improved survival were use of HIV treatment, being completely asymptomatic or able to get on with daily tasks, and weight loss of below 10%.

References

  1. Powles T et al. Incidence and outcome of HIV-related lung cancer in the HAART era. Second International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, Paris (Antiviral Therapy 8:1), abstract 946, 2003
  2. Lavole A et al. Effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy on survival of HIV infected patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer 65(3):345-50, 2009
This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.