What Are The Stages Of Lung Cancer?

Answer:

Lung cancer stages range from stage 1 (early stage) to stage 4 (more advanced stage) and your treatment options will vary according to your stage.

Bruno, 49

VIC

When you are diagnosed with lung cancer, your doctor will need to determine what stage your cancer is to decide on the best treatment for your cancer. Your doctor will look at the size and position of the tumour, if it has spread to nearby lymph nodes and if it has spread to other parts of the body. This information is then used to determine the stage of your lung cancer.

Generally, a lower stage of lung cancer is linked to a better outcome. However, cancer affects everyone in different ways. The right treatment for you depends not just on tumour stage but several factors, including your age, general fitness and any other medical conditions you have.

Unfortunately, 28% of lung cancer patients aren’t staged at diagnosis, meaning they are potentially missing out on life-changing treatment and care.

What are the stages of lung cancer? Well, generally the stages are either stage one, stage two, three or four stage one is where it’s more localised and could either be treated through a specific removal of a lobe in the lung. Stage two and three and four tends to be more advanced, but sadly, in relation to lung cancer, the timing of finding the disease is often too late and it tends to be diagnosed a bit later. And that’s quite common for people who particularly aren’t normally candidates for lung cancer. As in my case, I’ve never smoked before and therefore, when they did find it through that recurring cough, it was obviously at an advanced age and it was stage three B in my case.

So, stage one is generally confined or spot and surgery would normally work to fix that stage two and three vary and stage four is obviously spread well beyond the lung. And that becomes an inoperable disease, unfortunately needs to be treated through the targeted medication, as I mentioned before, or chemotherapy. Lung Cancer Search and Rescue. Hope in every breath.

Misinformation is real, but Lung Foundation Australia is committed to empowering those living with lung cancer with the facts and support they need. Connect with us today for guidance, information and support.

Last updated on June 25th, 2025 at 07:14 pm

Related Answers

Menu

Welcome to our new website!

We’re still fine-tuning things, so thanks for your patience if you spot any issues. If you’d like to share your feedback, click the ‘Feedback’ button in the bottom right corner of the page. While we can’t action every suggestion, all ideas guide our future improvements.

Search

More

Filter and sort

Article type

All articles
Category Article type

Lung disease

Select one or more
Lung disease Article

Topic

Select one or more
Category Article topic

Sort by

Search

Filter and sort

Category

Select one or more
Category product

Sort by

Filter and sort

Lung disease

Select one or more
Category lung disease LFA services

Service type and category

Service delivery method

Select one or more
Service delivery method

Post code

Your current location

Sort by

Filter and sort

I am...

Select one or more
Category who resource

Lung disease

Select one or more
Category lung disease resource

Resource type

Select one or more
Category Resource type

Resource language

Select one or more
Category lang resource

Only certain resources will be available in alternative languages

Sort by

Filter and sort

Lung disease

Select one or more
Lung Disease research

Research category

Select one or more
Category research

Year

Select one or more
Year Research

Sort by

Filter and sort

Type

Select one or more
Post Type Filter

Sort by

Filter and sort

Lung disease

Select one or more
Category news

Sort by

Filter and sort

Topic

Select one or more
Category topic training

Type

Select one or more
Category type training

Sort by

Filter and sort

I am...

Select one or more
Category who events

Lung disease

Select one or more
Category lung disease events

Type

Select one or more
Category type events

Sort by