How effective is chemotherapy for lung cancer?

Lung cancer chemotherapy effectiveness should be evaluated based on disease stage and individual differences. Generally, chemotherapy can shrink tumor lesions, control tumor metastasis, relieve clinical symptoms, increase surgical resection rates, and prolong patient survival. A detailed analysis is as follows:

1. Shrink tumor lesions: Chemotherapeutic agents target rapidly proliferating tumor cells, inhibiting their growth and division. For locally advanced lung cancer that cannot be surgically removed, or for microscopic residual lesions after surgery, chemotherapy can gradually reduce tumor volume, lower tumor burden, and create favorable conditions for subsequent treatments.

2. Control tumor metastasis: For lung cancer with regional or distant metastases, chemotherapy can reach the entire body via the bloodstream, suppressing the growth of metastatic lesions, delaying the progression of metastasis, reducing the formation of new metastatic sites, preventing rapid disease deterioration, and maintaining stable bodily functions.

3. Relieve clinical symptoms: Symptoms such as cough, hemoptysis, chest pain, and shortness of breath caused by lung cancer are often related to tumor compression or invasion of surrounding tissues. After chemotherapy reduces tumor size, pressure and damage to surrounding tissues are alleviated, thereby relieving these symptoms and improving patients' quality of life.

4. Increase surgical resection rate: For patients with large tumors where direct surgical removal is difficult, preoperative chemotherapy can shrink the tumor, reduce surgical complexity, improve the likelihood of complete tumor resection, minimize intraoperative residual tumor tissue, and lower the risk of postoperative recurrence.

5. Prolong patient survival: Whether used as adjuvant chemotherapy after early-stage surgery or palliative chemotherapy for advanced disease, chemotherapy helps control tumor progression and reduce recurrence and metastasis, providing patients with more treatment time. In particular, for patients with advanced lung cancer, it can extend survival and improve prognosis.

During chemotherapy, regular follow-up tests—including blood counts, liver and kidney function, and imaging evaluations—are necessary to monitor treatment efficacy and adverse effects. If severe side effects such as nausea, vomiting, or bone marrow suppression occur, patients should promptly inform their doctors so that treatment plans can be adjusted accordingly.