Can lung cancer be successfully treated if caught early?

Yes: If found small and early and peripheral, curative removal is possible. Some others if slow growing squamous may be larger but very local and cured. But even some small, small cell, undifferentiated can be found initially because of spread!

See below: Yes. Patients with early stage lung cancer can be treated with a curative intent. The strategies for treatment in such situations may involve surgery/chemo and/or radiation depending on the clinical situation.