|  | Cancer | Lung Cancer

Life Expectancy of Stage IV Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths in the United States. Every year, there are 180,000 new cases of lung cancer and 150,000 deaths due to lung cancer in America according to the book "Clinical Oncology."

  1. Effects

    • Stage IV lung cancer is a deadly disease. According to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database, only 2 percent of lung cancer patients survive past 5 years of diagnosis. The median length of survival for stage IV lung cancer is 8 to 9 months.

    Types

    • Two major types of lung cancer are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). The five-year survival rate for non-small cell lung cancer tends to be slightly higher than that of small-cell lung cancer, according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.

    Age

    • Young patients (20 to 40 years old) diagnosed stage IV lung cancer tend to have slightly better life expectancy than older patients (70 years old and older).

    Gender

    • Life expectancy of men diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer tend to be less than that of women with the same disease. The survival rate of stage IV lung cancer for males and females is 1.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

    Treatment

    • Treatment options for stage IV lung cancer include radiation therapy and chemotherapy. New targeted agents such as bevacizumab (also known as Avastin) used in combination with chemotherapy have been shown to significantly improve survival in stage IV lung cancer patients, according to a 2006 study published in "New England Medical Journal."

Lung Cancer - Related Articles