Longer survival

Ever better therapies for lung cancer

Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer.

(Bild: SciePro/stock.adobe.com)

Around 5000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. With targeted treatment, it is now possible to keep the tumor under control for longer. However, it is better to prevent the disease: it is best to stop smoking today. This is also easy on the wallet.

Lung cancer is still the most common fatal form of cancer. Krone Gesund" asked pulmonologist Dr. Dominik Maurer from the Ordensklinikum Linz what treatment options are available today and how best to prevent the disease:

How do people with the disease fare?

In the beginning, patients' everyday lives are dominated by fears and worries about the future. Rapid and targeted clarification of the diagnosis and treatment is crucial. In around 40 % of patients, the tumor has already spread to other parts of the body in the form of metastases at this stage, meaning that a cure through surgery or radiation is often no longer possible.

However, new findings have significantly improved the treatment options for metastatic lung cancer. With the advent of immunotherapy and targeted therapy, we have increasingly better tolerated drugs at our disposal, which can also significantly prolong survival.

What are the symptoms?

In addition to specific symptoms such as coughing, coughing up blood (hemoptysis), breathing difficulties and pain, many patients also describe chronic fatigue (fatique) and weight loss. However, there are also symptoms due to treatment, e.g. after chemotherapy. Nausea, loss of appetite, hair loss or sensory disturbances can occur. Therefore, in addition to tumor therapy, accompanying symptom-oriented treatment is crucial from the very beginning of the disease in order to improve the patient's quality of life.

Why does it pay to stop smoking?

The positive effects start after just a few minutes. Blood pressure and heart rate normalize. In the first few hours after the last cigarette, the harmful carbon monoxide level in the blood drops and oxygen levels rise. The typical breathing difficulties of smokers, such as a chesty cough and shortness of breath, also decrease noticeably in the first few months without smoking. Lung function improves and a noticeably better quality of life returns.

After just one year, the risk of heart attack is reduced by 50%. If you give up cigarettes consistently, the risk of developing lung cancer is only half as high after ten years. Overall, the risk of developing twelve different types of cancer can be significantly reduced. In addition to the health aspects, giving up cigarettes also pays off financially: Based on six to seven euros per pack, an annual saving of more than €2000 is possible.

Do people still not know how harmful smoking is?

Considering that, according to surveys, one in four people in Austria do not consider smoking to be a cause of cancer, awareness of lung cancer in Austria still needs to improve on many levels. This starts first and foremost with the protection of non-smokers. Although progress has been made through the implementation of the smoking ban in restaurants and improvements in youth protection, Austria is still in the bottom third internationally when it comes to the implementation of legal tobacco control.