Asbestos Cancer Treatment

Asbestos Cancer Treatment Treatment of asbestos lung cancer, like any lung cancer, depends on the type of cancer present, small or non-small cell, and the stage it has reached.

Small cell lung cancer is less common, accounting for approximately 20% of lung cancer cases diagnosed.  It grows and spreads rapidly, dictating aggressive treatment. While its occurrence is most closely linked with smoking at this time, asbestos exposure increases its risk of developing (5, 11).

Non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which tends to develop and spread much more slowly, is classified into three types: squamous carcinoma, cancer in the cells which line the lung airways, adenocarcinoma, cancer of the cells which produce mucous, and large cell carcinoma, which derives its name from the appearance of the abnormal cells under a microscope.

Staging of lung cancer describes how far and in what way lung cancer has progressed.  Small cell lung cancer stages are simply “limited” or “extensive.”  The National Cancer Institute (10) classifies 6 stages in NSCLC:

Occult or hidden stage – no tumor can be found by most diagnostic procedures; sputum cytology (analysis of phlegm) can find cancerous cells.

Stage 0 – cancerous cells exist only in the lining of air passages and have not spread to any nearby tissue
Stage I – tumor is discernable but small, or tumor is larger and cancerous cells have spread to other parts of the lung
Stage II – A) tumor is small and cancerous cells have spread to the lymph nodes on the same side of the body, B) tumor is larger, cancer has spread to the lymph nodes on the same side of the body and to other parts of the lung and/or chest cavity, or tumor is of any size and cancer has not spread to lymph nodes.
Stage III – A) tumor is of any size, and has spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the lung and/or chest cavity, B) tumor is of any size, has spread to the lymph nodes on the opposite side of the body, and to the heart, blood vessels, chest wall, diaphragm, trachea, esophagus, sternum, pleural fluid and/or tumors appear in other places in the same lung.
Stage IV – cancer has spread to lymph nodes, the other lung or to other parts of the body away from the chest cavity (5, 10).

Traditional treatments for lung cancer include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; often, a combination of treatments is used.  Newer treatments, such as photodynamic therapy and targeted/biologic therapy, are coming into broader use.  Under certain circumstances, participation in clinical trials is an option.

For patients in who stage I and II NSCLC has been diagnosed, surgery is usually chosen as the first treatment, which can also be effective for some cases of stage III NSCLC.  The goal of these surgeries is to remove all of the cancer if possible.  If performed early enough, before the cancer has spread outside of the chest, surgery can cure the cancer by eliminating it from the body (1, 2, 3, 8).

Depending on the location and size of the NSCLC, different types of surgery may be performed.  A thoroscopy, or Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) is minimally invasive, allowing the surgeon to access and remove the cancer through a small incision in the chest.  If the cancer has spread within the lung, the surgeon may perform a wedge resection, removing a small section of the lung with the cancer, a segmentectomy, removing part of one lobe of a lung, or a lobectomy, removing an entire lung lobe.  Lobectomy is the most common type of lung cancer surgery (2, 3, 4, 5).

In more advanced cases of NSCLC, a pneumonectomy may be necessary, removing an entire lung.  It is possible to preserve some of the lung tissue in some of these cases by performing a sleeve resection, in which the cancerous part of the airway affected is cut away, with or without adjoining lung tissue (2, 3, 4, 5).

Some patients will undergo chemo or radiotherapy prior to and/or after surgery.  This combination is becoming increasingly common as new data suggests a lower incidence of cancer recurrence and increased survival rate.

In external radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, strong x-rays or other type of radiation is targets cancer cells to kill them.  It is an important part of lung cancer treatment in all stages.  A typical course of therapy involves 5 treatments per week for up to 6-8 weeks, and can be used to shrink a tumor for ease of surgical removal, provide insurance against cancer recurrence.  In cases where surgery is not possible because of the patient’s age or physical condition, radiotherapy will be used as an alternative.  In late-stage NSCLC, radiation can be used as a palliative therapy, easing the discomfort of the terminal cancer (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8).

Internal radiation therapy can also be used, in which radioactive substances are placed near or directly into the cancer with needles, wires or catheters (5). Radiotherapy is sometimes used in conjunction with chemotherapy apart from surgery, particularly in NSCLC cases where the lymph nodes and lungs are the only cancerous sites, and surgery is not an option.  Small cell lung cancer is almost exclusively treated this way.  The two therapies may be administered simultaneously, or at separate times (1, 3, 8).

Chemotherapy, in which strong cytotoxic (anticancer) medicines are administered, is given orally or intravenously and can help to control the growth and spread of cancer.  It is standard treatment for lung cancer in most stages.  Many different types of chemotherapy drugs are available and are often prescribed in combinations.

Treatments are typically given once every three to four weeks for a period of at least six months and can either be systemic, where the drugs travel throughout the entire body, or targeted, where the drugs are injected directly into the cancerous area (1, 2, 3). Often used alone in late-stage cancer, chemotherapy can improve life quality and prolong the lives of stage IV cancer patients (1).

Whatever stage a patient’s lung cancer has reached, treatment plans can be developed to suit their age, physical condition, and personal preferences.  The key to the most successful treatments is early detection.

'Asbestos Cancer Treatment' Resources:
  1. U.S. National Library of Medicine
  2. OncoLink - Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
  3. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
  4. Brayton Purcell LLP
  5. Health-Cares.net - Cancer
  6. Asbestos Legal Watch - Law Offices of Thomas J. Lamb
  7. The Mesothelioma Center
  8. Healthline
  9. PeaceHealth
  10. National Cancer Institute
  11. AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, 6th ed.
  12. Mesothelioma Information & Resource Group