Lung cancer treatments - what are your options?
There are three types of commonly used lung cancer treatments -
surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. These treatments may be used
individually or in combination to achieve the best chance of curing this
dreaded disease.
How does the doctor decide on the specific lung cancer treatments to be
used in a particular case? That depends on several factors.
For instance, the exact location of the cancer within the lung has a
bearing on the kind of treatment adopted. So does the type of cancer and
the stage of the cancer. The stage of the cancer refers to the spread of
the disease - higher stages imply that the cancer has spread out beyond
its original location. The general health of the patient is an important
consideration as well.
Of the two major types of lung cancer, small cell lung cancer is
considerably more dangerous because of its tendency to spread rapidly to
other parts of the body. This type of cancer is usually treated with
chemotherapy. Surgery is generally not used because the cancer may already
have spread to other areas. Therefore surgical removal of a tumor would
not really help.
Radiotherapy is also used as one of the lung cancer treatments for small
cell lung cancer. Once chemotherapy has been administered (or while it is
being used), the doctor may use radiation treatment in the chest area.
This is done to prevent the cancer from showing up again.
Since small cell lung cancer often spreads to the brain, the doctor may
also use a procedure called prophylactic cranial irradiation (abbreviated
PCI) to deal with the presence of cancer in the brain. This is a form of
radiotherapy that is applied to the brain.
The above applies for those who have early stage or limited small cell
lung cancer. Patients with extensive disease are also usually given
chemotherapy and radiation treatment to relieve symptoms.
Treatment for those with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) depends on the
stage of the disease.
Stage zero is a very early stage of the disease - it is quite rare for the
disease to be detected this early. At this stage, the cancer can be cured
by surgery, usually through a procedure called wedge resection of
segmentectomy. This removes only a small part of the lung and does not
impair lung function to any great extent.
Stage 1 disease can also be cured through surgery. A greater portion of
the lung must be removed using a procedure called lobectomy. In this case,
one of the lobes of the lung is removed to get rid of the malignancy.
Other lung cancer treatments like radio frequency ablation and radical
radiotherapy may be used in cases where surgery is not possible.
Stage 2 of the disease often requires a lobectomy combined with
chemotherapy. The latter is recommended in cases where the cancer could
not be completely eliminated by a lobectomy. It may also be done to
prevent the cancer from recurring.
Stage 3 lung cancer may also be treated with surgery, provided the cancer
is in a location that can be surgically removed. If the cancer is too
close to the heart, for example, surgery may not be possible. Radiotherapy
may be used as an alternative. Chemotherapy is also used when cancer has
spread to lymph nodes.
There is no real cure for stage 4 non small cell lung cancer. The disease
has spread to other parts of the body. However, chemotherapy and
radiotherapy are used at this stage to increase life expectancy and to
relieve symptoms.
These lung cancer treatments when applied early enough can enable a
patient to lead a normal or near-normal life.
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