Stage 3B Lung Cancer

Stage 3b lung cancer is a dangerous spreading stage of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is divided according to stages and the stages help doctors and patients know how bad the cancer is. Stage 3b lung cancer is a severe form of lung cancer. The only worse form of lung cancer is stage 4, when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Testing for Lung Cancer

Doctors use several tests to find out where the cancer is located in the body. They use a test called a bronchoscopy to tell what type of cancer is in the lungs. In this test, a tube is put down into the lungs and a sample is taken of the cancer to find out under a microscope what kind of cancer it is. Doctors also use a CT scan, which is a 3D form of X-ray that can tell the size of the tumor. An MRI scan can tell if the cancer is found in the brain, the liver or in the other parts of the chest.

Doctors use a bone scan to tell if cancer has spread to the bone. A radionuclide scan is a radioactivity test that can tell if cancer cells are growing outside of the lungs. Some doctors do a bone marrow test that can tell if cancer cells have spread to the blood and bone marrow.

A test, known as a mediastinoscopy, can tell if the lymph nodes in the chest have cancer in them.

Severity of Stage 3B

Lung cancer stage 3B is one of the more severe types of lung cancer. When you have lung cancer stage 3, you can have stage 3A lung cancer or stage 3b lung cancer. Both are severe forms of lung cancer but stage 3A is slightly better than having lung cancer stage 3B.

Doctors use a special system, called the TNM, system to stage lung cancers. T stands for the size of the main cancer, N stands for lymph nodes, which can have cancer in them and M stands for whether or not the cancer has spread outside of the lungs. In stage 3A lung cancer, the cancer is up to 3 centimeters in size and has lymph nodes involved in the chest near the center of the chest or in the area around the heart.

Lung cancer stage 3B means that you have a cancer that is of any size with lymph nodes found to have cancer on the opposite side of the lungs or near the rib cage. It can also mean that the tumor is invading the heart or major blood vessels or other organs in the chest and lymph nodes involved in any way. There is no spread of cancer beyond the chest in lung cancer stage 3.

Treating the Cancer

Doctors have more cancer to treat when dealing with stage 3b lung cancer. The treatment can include surgery to remove the main part of the tumor and any lymph nodes that have cancer in them. Treatment can also mean that you need chemotherapy. With chemotherapy, you get medications that kill fast growing parts of the body, including the fast growing cancer cells. You may also get radiation, which provides radioactivity waves to the parts of the lungs that have cancer cells in them. Some people get radiation to their bones to shrink tumor cells that have reached the bones.

Doctors also recommend that you eat healthy foods when you have cancer. Some healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, have cancer-fighting nutrition in them and are good to eat when you have cancer. Protein is also good to eat when you have lung cancer stage 3 because it will help you gain weight and stay strong while you are fighting off cancer.

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