Lung Cancer Small Cell Carcinoma

Within lung cancer, small cell carcinoma is one specific and deadly form of lung cancer.

Lung cancer, small cell carcinoma is one of several forms of cancer. If you have been diagnosed with this form of cancer, also called oat cell lung cancer, you are probably worried about the health of your lungs and are wondering if this kind of cancer will kill you. The truth is that while small cell carcinoma lung cancer kills many people who have it, it is also the most treatable form of lung cancer.

This means that more people are cured of this cancer with the right treatment than any other type of lung cancer.

As a kind of lung cancer, small cell carcinoma lung cancer makes up twenty percent of all kinds of lung cancer and about 30,000 to 35,000 people each year are diagnosed with it. It usually grows in the upper part of the lungs and often spreads to lymph nodes in the neck and the wall of the chest.

It is a fast spreading cancer and almost 70 percent of all people who are diagnosed with small cell carcinoma lung cancer already have spread of the disease to other body parts. It is called oat cell lung cancer because the cells look like oats under the microscope.

Treating Small Cell Carcinoma

Doctors do not usually remove this type of cancer with surgery. Research studies have found that it doesn’t help you to have the tumor removed and makes no difference in how well you do. Instead, doctors use chemotherapy, which attacks cancer cells in your body. They also use radiation to try to kill off the main part of the tumor in the lungs. The combination works to kill the cancerous cells in the body and can cure some individuals

Doctors know the odds are not in your favor when you have oat cell lung cancer. If you are among the 30 percent or so that just have lung cancer (small cell carcinoma) in the lungs and no other place, you have a 14 percent chance of surviving another five years. The average person dies between one and a half and two years from the time of diagnosis. Smoking can affect your chances of survival so you should quit smoking as soon as you learn you have small cell lung cancer.

If you have small cell lung cancer that has spread beyond the border of the lungs, you have survival chances of about 6-12 months, although a few people beat the disease completely.

Small Cell Lung Cancer Symptoms

If you have small cell lung cancer, your symptoms can depend on where the cancer is and how much of the cancer is outside of the lungs. If you have cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, you will have large, swollen lymph nodes that can be red and painful. If you have cancer that has spread to the lining of your lung, fluid around the lung will build up and cause pressure on the lungs.

If the small cell lung cancer has spread to the brain, you can have headaches, personality changes or changes in the way your body moves. Sometimes the cancer can spread to the liver. If that happens, you can get yellow eyes and yellow skin. You will feel ill if you have small cell cancer in the liver.

Almost everyone loses weight when they have small cell carcinoma lung cancer and you will likely have weight loss, too. This is because the cancer cells use up the food you eat and grows, while you lose weight from a lack of nutrition.

Written by Dr. Christine Traxler
July 2009
Reviewed by Natalie Thomas
08-14-09