[Lung cancer--epidemiology, prognosis and therapy]

Abstract

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer diagnoses, sadly with a bad prognosis. The main risk factor is smoking. There are two major types of lung cancer: non-small cell lung cancer und small cell lung cancer. The difference is important for prognosis and therapy. The prognosis for patients with small-cell lung cancer is worse; the treatment is based on chemotherapy. In patients with non-small cell lung cancer surgery and radiotherapy are more important.