What is laser therapy for lung cancer?

My sister has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and is going to have laser therapy. What is that?

Your sister may have a tumour that is blocking or partly blocking an airway. This can cause

Difficulty breathing
Repeated infections
A collapse of the part of the lung that the airway leads to

A laser is a very strong, fine beam of light that is very hot. It can burn away tumour tissue. Your sister will probably have the treatment in the outpatient department. She will have an anaesthetic first. While she is asleep, the doctor will put a bronchoscopy tube down her throat. The laser tube goes down inside the bronchoscopy tube. When it is in the right place, the surgeon can switch on the laser light and burn away some of the tumour that is causing the blockage.

The treatment won't usually burn away all of the tumour but will shrink the tumour enough to improve her symptoms. This treatment usually has few side effects and your sister may be able to go home afterwards or she may stay in hospital overnight.

Laser treatment can be repeated if the tumour grows back. Your sister may also have chemotherapy or radiotherapy to slow down the growth of the cancer. If your sister has non small cell lung cancer and the cells have specific proteins that make them sensitive to biological therapy drugs, her doctor may recommend biological therapy treatment.

You can find out about these treatments in the lung cancer treatment section. There is also information about laser treatment for advanced lung cancer which you may find helpful.