This article takes a look at the various lung cancer stages and the signs and symptoms of each. Depending on the stage, the treatment is determined with varying side effects including hair loss.

Lung Cancer classification

There are two types of lung cancer. Small cell lung carcinoma and non-small cell lung carcinoma. The former can be effectively treated with chemotherapy, while the latter responds  well to surgery.

Non Small Cell carcinoma staging

This is the more common form of lung cancer. There are many ways in which one can classify a cancer progression, and non small cell carcinoma is classified using a system called TNM staging. This measures three factors of the tumor to determine it's severity and the type of treatment.

"T" refers to the size of the tumor. The lowest value is TisN0M0 which is a very early form and is actually called pre-cancer. The "T" variable can hit an upper limit of 4

"N" refers to the degree of whether or not the tumor cell have affected the lymph nodes. The value ranges from 0 to 3. 3 means that the tumor has spread to the lymph nodes that are furthest away from the site of the tumor, with 0 meaning that it hasn't affected any nodes at all.

"M" quantifies whether or not the tumor has spread to organs beyond the regional lymph nodes. "0" means that it hasn't while "1" means that it has.

Small Cell Carcinoma staging

Small cell carcinoma is more prevalent among smokers and is much more likely to spread to other organs. That is, it is more metastatic. The system of classification is limited to two stages - limited and extensive, depending on whether or not the cells have spread beyond a specific stage known as the  ipsilateral hemithorax.

Lung Cancer Stages - Treatment

Though there are only three types of treatment, namely surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, there are a vast number of combinations of treatments that make it highly complex. Small cell carcinoma is treated with chemo and radiation, whereas non small cell is treated with surgery. However, depending on several other factors, there will be many options in between.

Chemotherapy and hair loss

Chemotherapy undertaken for the treatment of lung cancer frequently leads to hair loss and so the patient must be prepared for that. There are several ways to deal with this stage, and this site is dedicated to helping people do just that. Look around in our article section for helpful information and visit our store for items that suit you.

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