Experts say that by the beginning of this century, the death rate of lung cancer has climbed to the 1st place among the causes of cancer death. The cancer incidence rate in Sichuan Province is 2 per 1,000, with as many as 180,000 new cases each year and 120,000 to 130,000 deaths each year due to malignant tumors. Experts analyze that “only 20% of early stage patients can be operated immediately after diagnosis, while the other 80% have no chance of surgery. Survival of lung cancer patients in the middle and late stages is not ideal, but we are still optimistic by using comprehensive treatment.” Late stage lung cancer patients have a turnaround Experts say there is hope for surgery for early stage lung cancer patients for radical treatment. For advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients, with the emergence of targeted therapy as an emerging treatment, the treatment effect has been significantly improved. Targeted therapy drugs include monoclonal antibody class and tyrosine kinase inhibitor class. The latter are oral agents that are easy to use and have a significantly better safety profile than chemotherapy. Only one tyrosine kinase inhibitor, ERSA (gefitinib), has clinical study results directly comparable to chemotherapy drugs. These studies show that in patients with all types of relapsed non-small cell lung cancer, ERSA (gefitinib) achieves survival outcomes equivalent to chemotherapy. For Asian patients in particular, ERSA (gefitinib) was significantly more effective than chemotherapy in second-line treatment. Experts say that the main advantage of targeted drugs is the ability to significantly prolong patient survival. Some patients enrolled in the ERSA expanded dosing program have lived 4 to 5 years since the diagnosis of advanced lung cancer. Another advantage is the improvement in the patient’s quality of life. Patients do not have to be hospitalized, but simply take one pill a day at home and have regular checkups as prescribed by their doctors. This suggests that targeted therapy has somehow turned advanced lung cancer into a chronic disease in some patients. As long as there is a ray of hope, we should all try to beat it!