Whether lung cancer is operable or not, may well depend upon the circumstances of the patient involved; however, where certain factors do not allow for this option, other treatments may well be offered. Many factors must be taken into consideration before any treatment or operation can take place, as either may have a prominent bearing on the prognosis of the cancer patient.
Although lung cancer is generally operable, by using either traditional open surgery, or one of the less intrusive and more sophisticated video-assisted thoracoscopic surgeries (VATS), often it may not be considered to be the best option for a patient. Where ill-health is a factor, or either the size and location of the tumor is deemed to be a consideration, other forms of treatment may well have to be considered.
However, other forms of treatment may also depend much on the type of lung cancer that is being treated and it's staging. Be it the more rapid growing Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) that makes up for between 10% - 15% of all diagnosed cases, or the more common and slower growing Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).
The most common of these treatment options offered may include:
1. Chemotherapy tends to be the conventional lung cancer treatment used that everyone has heard of. Today it uses a cocktail of over 100 different drugs and works by destroying the cancerous cells and stopping their spread. However, although considered to be an acceptable treatment, it does tend to cause many unwanted side-effects.
2. External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) which is usually offered when the lung cancer is either considered to be primary, or when it has metastasized (spread to other organs). This form of treatment uses a linear accelerator machine to focus a precise beam of radiation on a given area of the body for a precise period of time to kill off cancerous cells.
Although still widely used throughout the modern world, it is now actually beginning to be considered as old hat, and for this reason is slowly being replaced by a range of newer and more efficient technologies. These newer technologies tend to include:
1. Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT) which is used to deliver a precise dose of multiple radiation treatment fields to a patient.
2. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is also used by modifying the radiation beams by varying their intensity. This is a more specialized form of the 3D-CR treatment.
3. Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) delivers small high doses of high radiation to a precise target within the body, and is usually considered for early stage lung cancer.
Fitzgerald, M., et al. “Red/near-infrared irradiation therapy for treatment of central nervous system injuries and disorders.” Rev. Neurosci. 24.2: (2013): 205-26.
There are a variety of ways to treat a collapsed lung, and different methods are used depending on the severity of the situation. The ultimate goal of the treatment is to restore lung function by removing external pressure on the
It incorporates dietary advising, exercise training, and mental guiding. There are also numerous surgical treatment alternatives. For example, the removal of nasal polyps that block breathing, oxygen treatment to prevent pulmonary hypertension, endoscopy and lavage to suction mucus from airways, the surgical insertion of a feeding tube may be important to convey supplements while sleeping. In cases where life-threatening lung complexities arise, a lung transplant may be viewed as an option.
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. 1990. Unconventional Cancer Treatments, OTA-H-405. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
K. Brown, P. Williams, J. Wong and D. Yan, "Collimator for radiotherapy apparatus US 6,714,627 B1," 30 March 2004. [Online]. Available: www.google.com/patents/US6714627.
There are essentially three main types of cancer treatments; surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Surgery allows doctors to effectively remove tumors from a clear plane. Chemotherapy uses drugs to treat the tumor; but often the drugs affect other healthy cells in the process. Using radiation as a treatment can be either precise or vague. Many health stigmas can come from the vague forms of radiation or conventional radiation therapy. Conventional radiation treats both the unhealthy and healthy cells, therefore exposing healthy cells to harmful radiation (Radiation Oncology, 2011, p.6). When healthy cells are exposed to gamma radiation they are also exposed to ionizing radiation. The ionization can cause “breakage of chemical bonds or oxidization (addition of oxygen atoms)” in a cell; the main impact of this is on a cell’s DNA, if two strands of DNA break it can result in “mutations, chromosome aberrations, ...
Surgery is the oldest type of treatment for cancer. In its earlier use, surgery was not as successful as it is today. This was due to the difficulties involved with the anesthesias, excessive blood loss, respiratory distress, and a number of other complications. Tumors were removed, but metastases had formed, and the cancer returned quickly. In modern day surgery, namely laser surgery, these difficulties do not occur as readily. There are four basic ways to use surgery. One way is a diagnostic biopsy. This is a technique that involves removing part of the tumor, in order to test for malignancy. Another technique is surgery that removes the primary tumor. A third technique is removal of lymphatic tumors and metastases, which can help reduce the recurrence of cancer. The fourth technique is a combination of surgeries to detect and treat a malignant or benign tissue mass (1).
For cancer patients there are several treatment options. Surgery can remove cancerous tumors, chemotherapy uses drugs for treatment, and radiation therapy. The doctor in charge of the patient’s treatment may also choose to use radiation therapy. “Radiation
According to “Medical News Today” cancer is a disease that is caused by an over growth of anomalous cells on one or more lungs. Cells often go up the air pipes which can cause difficulty to breath. Due to the over production of cells the tissue cells often begin to over produce; which results in tumors. There are two types of tumors: malignant and benign. Malignant tumors are the more dangerous of the two due to its invasive nature; which makes it cancerous. While benign is not invasive in other words non-cancerous. This is why cancer spreads to multiple areas and can be sometimes very difficult to fight. Cancer cells are abnormal not only because of their evasive nature, but also because of its irregular life cycle. Rather than expire like a regular cell, they continuously grow and duplicate which causes the disease to spread. This makes cell abnormal in shape and other qualities; known as a sickle cell. Due to the large growth and reproduction rate of the cells this makes the spreading of the cancer more rapid. Each cancer has specific symptom, for lung cancer the sympto...
The Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) created the Therac-25 radiation therapy machine (Death and Denial). The major innovation of this machine is that it was much more computer-controlled than the previous machines of its kind. This enabled technicians to spend less time setting up the machine and more time working directly with patients. The reduced setup time also increased the number of patients that were able to be treated in one day (ComputingCases). Patients undergoing treatment from the Therac-25 are in communication with the machine operator (located in a separate room) through AV monitors (Death and Denial).
Non-small-cell lung cancer is more common than small-cell lung cancer. It makes up about 80 percent of all diagnosed lung cancers. It is actually four different kinds of lung cancers that grow and respond to treatment in about the same way. These four types of non-small-cell lung cancer are termed squamous cell, adencarcinoma, large cell, and mixed cell. Two other related cancers that are also included in the non-small-cell lung cancers group are carcinoid and mesothelioma. Non-small-cell lung cancer grows more slowly than small-cell lung cancer. Non-small-cell lung cancer tends to grow first in the area where it started then invades the surrounding lung tissue and ribs. It eventually spreads to other areas of the body, mainly bones, brain, and liver.
How is radiation therapy being improved some might ask,"Doctors and other scientists are conducting research studies called clinical trials to learn how to use radiation therapy to treat cancer
When we hear, cancer treatment, our minds naturally shoot straight to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the most commonly used way to treat cancer. There is a saying that goes “Chemotherapy is an opponent itself simultaneously caring you and hurting you”. (Morasca, 2015). Cancer refers to the abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and in some cases, it spreads to other parts of the body. The main types of cancer treatment include: surgery, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, hormone therapy, stem cell transplant, precision medicine, and chemotherapy.
Radiation therapists work closely with patients to fight cancer. According to Health Care Careers, Oncologists, Dosimetrists and nurses are some of the professionals that a radiation therapist works with while caring for a cancer patient. This group of professionals will determine a specialized treatment plan. The first step usually includes a CT scan performed by a radiologist to find the exact area that needs to be targeted with x-rays. Next, the therapist uses a special machine that emits radiation called a Linear Accelerator. They use this machine during a treatment called external beam therapy. During this process, the Linear Accelerator will project x-rays at targeted cancer cells or tumors. Another therapist will be in a different room monitoring the patient’s viral signs until the procedure is over. The external therapy l...
The most common type of radiation therapy that is used involves exposure of patients to external radiations. In this method, a beam containing high-energy X-rays is directed to a specific region of the body to irradiate the main tumors. However, the problem with this technique is that the ability to hit normal tissues of adjacent organs (Noda et al., 2009). Different from this, targeted radionuclide therapy functions like chemotherapy. A radionuclide labeled molecule is administered either orally or intravenously such that it delivers radiations that are sufficiently toxic to the site of the disease to kill the target cells (Bolus & Brady, 2011). However, the main difference with chemotherapy is that the drugs or toxins only...