Non-small cell lung cancer Chinese Medicine

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the United States, and smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. Approximately 169,400 new cases of lung cancer and 154,900 deaths from lung cancer occured in the US in 2002. (1) There are two major types of lung cancer: non- small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Non-small cell lung cancer is the more common of the two, affecting up to 80% of those with lung cancer. This type of lung cancer usually metastasizes to different parts of the body more slowly than does small cell lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer is further subdivided into squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large cell carcinoma, and its progression is divided into occult NSCLC and stages 0-IV NSCLC. Standard Western medical treatment of this type of lung cancer typically involves some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

In issue #11,2003 of the Hu Nan Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Hunan Journal of Chinese Medicine), Wo An-jun of the Shaoyang Municipal Central Hospital published an article titled, "A Summary of Treating 46 Cases of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer with Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine."