Platelets are disc-shaped components of blood that are smaller than red blood cells and contain no hemoglobin. Low platelet counts can be corrected by transfusions. Transfusions, however, bring further risks of possible infectious or allergic complications. It can be combined with other growth factors such as G-CSF, which stimulates production of white blood cells, and erythropoietin, which drives the production of red blood cells. The majority of lung cancer patients have nonsmall-cell cancer that is not diagnosed until the later stages, stages III and IV, when chemotherapy is especially vital to prolonging survival.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women.