Prognosis of lung cancer
The prognosis of lung cancer depends on its stage: the more advanced the stage, the less favorable the prognosis.
In the early stages, surgery accompanied with preoperative or postoperative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy can provide a good chance of recovery.
In advanced stages, the prognosis is influenced by molecular characteristics and the patient’s general conditions. Speaking of molecular characteristics, patients with EGFR gene mutations or with EML4-ALK translocations usually have a better prognosis thanks to the targeted therapies they can receive.
Patients with impaired general conditions do not tolerate treatments as well and are at a higher risk of developing complications. This is also influenced by other comorbidities (which play a role in the choice of chemotherapy).
Some patients have an unfavorable prognosis, which can be caused by an aggressive disease that is unresponsive to treatments and associated to complications that may significant interfere with their course of treatment. In other patients, however, the disease may be chronic for many years.
