WHO's comparable 2021 estimates put it at roughly 21,700 deaths — about 10.9% of all estimated deaths, ahead of ischaemic heart disease.
Source: WHO Global Health Estimates 2021 (latest comparable country release)Treatment guide · Nepal · thoracic oncology
Lung cancer treatment in India for Nepali patients
Lung cancer is the area where treatment has changed most in the last decade, and almost all of that change depends on one thing: whether the tumour has been tested for the mutations that targeted drugs act on. If that testing has not been done, it is the first thing to ask about.
- Molecular testing changes the plan
- Small cell and non-small cell are different diseases
- Send the biopsy and CT images first
Request a confidential case review WhatsApp the Nepal desk
General information for planning, not medical advice. Diagnosis and treatment decisions rest with the treating doctors and hospitals.
The Nepal picture
Nepal's respiratory burden is unusually heavy, which complicates both diagnosis and treatment tolerance.
The same exposures that drive COPD also raise lung cancer risk, and many patients arrive with both conditions at once. Lung function affects what treatment can safely be given.
TB remains among Nepal's leading causes of death at around 17,900 in the same estimates, and lung shadows are frequently treated as TB before cancer is considered. A tissue diagnosis matters.
Source: WHO Global Health Estimates 2021 (latest comparable country release)What treatment usually involves
General description. The oncologist decides your plan.
- 01Tissue diagnosis
Bronchoscopy or image-guided biopsy. Sub-type — small cell versus non-small cell, and within that adenocarcinoma or squamous — determines everything downstream.
- 02Molecular and PD-L1 testing
EGFR, ALK, ROS1 and PD-L1 status decide whether targeted therapy or immunotherapy is available to you. This testing is routine at large Indian centres.
- 03Staging
CT, PET-CT where indicated, and brain imaging, because lung cancer commonly spreads there and it changes the plan.
- 04Treatment
Surgery for early localised disease; chemoradiation for locally advanced; systemic therapy — chemotherapy, targeted agents or immunotherapy — for metastatic disease.
- 05Supportive care
Pulmonary rehabilitation, oxygen assessment and symptom control run alongside, particularly where COPD coexists.
What moves the cost
- Small cell versus non-small cell, and the sub-type
- Stage, and whether brain or bone involvement is present
- Mutation status and whether targeted therapy or immunotherapy is indicated — the single largest cost variable here
- Whether surgery is possible and the extent of resection
- Radiotherapy technique and fractions
- Baseline lung function and how much supportive care is required
We publish no prices on this page. Any figure quoted before a specialist has read your reports is a guess, and a guess is a bad thing to plan a family’s finances around. What we do instead is obtain the hospital’s own written estimate, in its own format, with its assumptions stated — before you decide whether to travel. See how CureYatra handles costs.
What to send us before anything else
Do not attach medical records to the form below. Send a short enquiry first and we will reply with secure sharing instructions and a written consent step.
- Biopsy or histopathology report, and any molecular or PD-L1 testing already done
- CT chest with images, and any PET-CT
- Brain MRI or CT if done
- Pulmonary function tests, if available
- Details of any TB treatment given, and any chemotherapy already started
Case-coordination fee · Nepal
NPR 5,000 per patient, per year — coordination only.
Inclusive of applicable taxes. The first enquiry is free; the fee is requested only when you decide to proceed, together with the reports and record-sharing consent. Every hospital, doctor, medicine, implant, diagnostic and travel charge is separate and paid by you directly to the provider. Terms & Conditions apply.
Questions Nepali families ask
Why does everyone ask about mutation testing?
Because for a proportion of non-small-cell lung cancers there are oral targeted drugs that work far better than conventional chemotherapy — and they are only useful if the mutation is present. Without the test, the choice is made blind.
My scan was called TB. Could it be cancer?
Both are common in Nepal and they can look similar on imaging, which is why a tissue diagnosis matters before committing to a long treatment course. If a TB course has not produced the expected response, that is a specific and legitimate reason to ask for a review.
Is surgery possible for lung cancer?
Only for a minority of patients, where the disease is localised and lung function is adequate. The assessment involves both a surgeon and a pulmonologist.
Can targeted therapy be continued in Nepal?
Often yes, as they are oral medicines taken long term with periodic scans. Supply, monitoring schedule and who prescribes at home should be settled before discharge.
What will it cost?
The hospital issues its own written estimate. Because drug choice dominates the arithmetic in lung cancer, the estimate is only meaningful after the pathology and molecular reports exist.
Nepal patient desk · direct enquiry
Send your case from Nepal — the first enquiry is free.
Tell us the diagnosis area and how to reach you. A coordinator replies on WhatsApp or email, explains how to share reports securely, and only then are suitable hospitals asked for a written clinical plan and their own estimate.
- The first enquiry costs nothing. The NPR 5,000 annual case-coordination fee is requested only if you decide to proceed.
- No Indian visa for Nepali citizens entering from Nepal, subject to the official identity-document and route conditions.
- Nepali-language coordination, and consultations in English or Hindi.
- You pay the hospital directly against its own written invoice — never CureYatra.
- No hospital, price, timing or treatment outcome is guaranteed here; the hospital’s written documents always prevail.
पहिलो सम्पर्क निःशुल्क छ। रिपोर्ट पठाउनुहोस्, अस्पतालको लिखित उपचार योजना र खर्च अनुमान हामी मगाउँछौं।