Therapie des fernmetastasierten nichtkleinzelligen Lungenkarzinoms (NSCLC) – Standards und Innovationen

Nach den epidemiologischen Daten des Robert–Koch–Institutes und der Gesellschaft der epidemiologischen Krebsregister in Deutschland e. V. ist Lungenkrebs in Deutschland sowohl bei Männern als auch bei Frauen die dritthäufigste Krebserkrankung. Wegen der eingeschränkten Prognose ist der Anteil der Lungenkrebserkrankungen an allen Krebstodesfällen noch höher; bei Männern ist Lungenkrebs die häufigste maligne Erkrankung, die zum Tod führt, bei Frauen die dritthäufigste.

Da die überwiegende Mehrzahl der Patienten erst im fernmetastasierten und damit nicht mehr kurativ therapierbaren Stadium diagnostiziert wird, spielt die palliative Therapie mit dem Ziel der Lebensverlängerung und der Kontrolle krankheitsbedingter Symptome wie Schmerzen, Dyspnoe, Husten oder Hämoptysen und damit der Verbesserung der Lebensqualität eine wichtige Rolle im Therapiekonzept der Lungenkrebserkrankung. Aktuelle Therapiekonzepte und neue Entwicklungen werden in diesem Artikel dargestellt.

Lung cancer incidence ranks third in Germany according to the epidemiological data of the Robert Koch Institute and the Society of German Epidemiological Cancer Registry. This applies to both males and females. The rate of lung cancer deaths is even higher on account of the limited prognostic rate. In males, this is the most frequently occurring malignant disease with fatal outcome while ranking third in females.

An important constituent of the therapy concept in lung cancer aims at the prolongation of life and the alleviation of associated symptoms such as pain, dyspnoea, coughing and hemoptyses, since in the majority of cases diagnosis is established only after distant metastasis has occurred and hence cannot be cured. The present article describes update therapeutic concepts and novel developments in this regard.

Lung cancer - non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) - palliative therapy - chemotherapy

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