Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 9, 1993 TAG: 9309090240
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lung cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, but it can be treated successfully if diagnosed early.
Depending on the type of lung cancer, patients can live five years - or longer - after being diagnosed.
Roanoke City Councilman James Harvey, 53, said Tuesday that he recently found out he has lung cancer. He is weighing his treatment options.
But he said he is "going to be positive and approach this just as aggressively as I do other things."
The key to long-term survival is early diagnosis - and the type of cancer.
If the cancer is detected early, it can be removed with surgery, radiation or both.
But sometimes symptoms don't appear until the cancer has spread beyond the lungs.
Symptoms include a nagging cough, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, chest pains and weight loss.
A cancer specialist said many patients don't see their doctors until the malignancy has spread.
Dr. William Fintel, an oncologist at the Lewis-Gale Clinic, said Wednesday that chest X-rays aren't always effective in detecting lung cancer. The cancer can be spotted with a CAT scan, but that is expensive, he said.
There are two basic types of lung cancer. One grows rapidly and usually has spread before it is detected. The preferred treatment for this so-called small-cell cancer is chemotherapy.
About 25 percent of lung-cancer patients have the small-cell type, said Dr. Stephen Kennedy, an oncologist in Roanoke. The malignancy spreads so fast that by the time it is diagnosed, surgery usually is no longer practical, he said.
Chemotherapy is one treatment for patients with small-cell cancer, Kennedy said, but life expectancy is nine to 14 months.
"If it has spread; there isn't a lot you can do," he said. "The problem with lung cancer is that it's often in the advanced stages when it is diagnosed."
About 75 percent of the patients with lung cancer have what is described as non-small-cell cancer. It spreads more slowly and often can be detected during its early stages.
If the cancer is caught early enough, a patient has an 80 percent chance of living five years or longer, Fintel said.
Fintel said he's not familiar with Harvey's case, but it's good news for him that surgery is one of the treatments that is being considered.
"If surgery is being considered, it probably means his cancer is operable," Fintel said. "They must think it hasn't spread."
Both surgery and radiation are used in some cases to help make sure that all of the cancer has been removed, he said.
Fintel said studies have shown that lung cancer is closely linked to smoking. If people stopped smoking, it would put a lot of cancer-treatment centers out of business, he said.
Harvey has been a smoker for more than 30 years.
The Cancer Treatment Center of Southwest Virginia has organized groups to help provide emotional and psychological support for those with lung cancer and other forms of cancer.
Trish Freed, a spokeswoman for the center, said several groups meet monthly and are open to patients, their families and friends.
by CNB