Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs work by disrupting the growth of cancer cells, and may be given by mouth or may be injected into a vein or muscle. A course of chemotherapy is normally given in short cycles, typically 3 to 4 weeks apart, for a total of 4 to 6 months. The number of courses you have will depend on the type of lung cancer and how well it is responding to the drugs.

Chemotherapy is considered the standard therapy for advanced lung cancer. The first chemotherapy regimen that a person receives to treat their cancer is referred to as “first-line” chemotherapy. If first line therapy doesn’t work or if the disease re-occurs, following first-line therapy, second line therapy may be given. Some patients with lung cancer go on to receive more than 4 or 5 different chemotherapy regimens

Although you may experience unpleasant side effects with chemotherapy, such as anaemia, nausea and vomiting, hair loss and mouth ulcers, most of these can be well controlled with medications.

Biologically targeted therapies
In recent years scientists have been developing 'targeted therapies' which work differently from traditional chemotherapy. These therapies are designed to look for certain markers on cancer cells or to attack specific biological pathways which are important for cancer cell growth. Treatment with targeted therapies can produce tumour shrinkage in some patients who have already received chemotherapy. Since targeted therapies work differently from chemotherapy, they also have different side effects.

Gefitinib is an example of a targeted therapy which can be used to treat some patients with lung cancer. The side effects which are most common with gefitinib are diarrhoea and skin reactions, with the majority of these being mild in nature.