Stage II lung cancer presents several treatment pathways designed to target and eliminate the disease. This page explores the standard medical approaches for Stage II NSCLC. From surgical removal and targeted radiation to systemic options like chemotherapy, you will find information to help you feel informed and prepared for conversations with your doctors.
The standard of care for Stage II NSCLC focuses on removing or destroying the primary tumor and checking adjacent lymph nodes. In this video, a cancer expert discusses the primary strategies for treating this specific tier of early-stage lung cancer.
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For many patients, surgery is a foundational element of a Stage II treatment strategy. Here, we look at the different categories of thoracic surgeries and when each is used.
Radiation therapy uses precise, high-energy beams to destroy cancer cells and is a vital alternative or supportive tool in your care. The doctors in these videos explain how radiation functions, what to expect during planning sessions, and how advanced technologies allow specialists to treat the tumor effectively while protecting healthy tissue.
Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells. Chemotherapy also attacks healthy cells.
Sometimes, fighting lung cancer requires treating the whole body to prevent the disease from returning. Here, cancer specialists explain the roles of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapies, including the difference between receiving treatments before surgery (neoadjuvant) versus after surgery (adjuvant).
Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that finds and attacks certain parts of cancer cells and the signals sent to cancer cells that cause them to grow uncontrollably. They prevent the growth of cancer cells only and do not harm healthy cells.
A targeted therapy works to control a specific biomarker, so it can only treat patients with that specific biomarker. Targeted therapy may be used after surgery in patients with a known biomarker.
Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that helps your immune system find and attack lung cancer. It is already a standard-of-care treatment for patients with NSCLC.
Many of the FDA-approved immunotherapies target another type of biomarker called PD-1/PD-L1. Because research has found PD-L1 biomarkers along with NSCLC mutations in patient tumor samples, clinical trials are now learning if immunotherapy works to treat different types of NSCLC mutations. Other clinical trials are underway to look at combinations of targeted therapy and immunotherapy for treatment of various NSCLC subtypes. However, it is important to wait for biomarker testing results before initiating treatment for NSCLC because, in some cases, it can be harmful to start immunotherapy if driver mutations are present. Immunotherapy may be given with chemotherapy.
Clinical trials offer an avenue to access new and evolving therapies. In these videos, experts discuss how the landscape of early-stage lung cancer care has evolved through recent clinical trials and demystify the scientific phases required to bring new treatments safely to patients.
