Lung Cancer Treatment Options – Chemotherapy, Surgery, Radiation Therapy, Photodynamic Therapy :

Lung Cancer Treatment Options: Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is one of the likely options prescribed for the lung cancer treatment. Usually, it’s the treatment of choice for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and for non-small cell lung cancer it may be prescribed as a follow-up to surgery.

What is chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is the consumption of drugs to combat cancer. The drugs chosen are dictated by the specific cancer and its stage. They’re sometimes referred to as ‘cytotoxins’ – drugs that are poisonous to cancer cells. They work by disrupting the reproduction of cancer cells in one way or another.

Why would the doctor prefer chemotherapy rather than other cancers?

Radiology and surgery both treat cancer locally – that is, they are focused on treating cancer that is localized in one area of your body. SCLC is often not discovered before it has already begun to spread to other parts of your body. With chemotherapy, the drug circulates in your blood, seeking out cancer cells wherever they may have spread.

With small cell lung cancer, the spread of cancer is microscopic, and often doesn’t show up on scans until it has established itself in other organ systems. With the imagination that the cancer has already begun to spread, Doctors may decide to treat SCLC with chemotherapy as a prophylactic measure.

Either before or after or parallel with radiotherapy, Chemotherapy is often prescribed. The cancer cells that may have already broken off the main site and ready to spread are cleaned up by doctors by laying down a course of chemotherapy after surgery.

For non-small cell lung cancer, although it’s not as sensitive to drugs as small cell lung cancer, the doctor may also prescribe chemotherapy. When chemotherapy is prescribed for NSCLC, its purpose is often to get smaller the tumor before surgery or radiation.

In order to assist in managing the symptoms of lung cancer and feel you more comfortable while undergoing lung cancer, you may also use chemotherapy.

In fact, in June 2001, the format statement made by the British National Institute for Clinical Excellence made a formal statement that people with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer should be considered for chemotherapy even if it is not likely to eradicate the cancer because it reduces the symptoms and allows a longer, more comfortable life.

What drugs are used in chemotherapy?

In order to fight lung cancer there are many cytotoxic drugs. Cisplatin is one of the most common, and it is often prescribed in combination with other drugs that increase its effectiveness. In open clinical trials, there are many new drugs being tested. You can check one of many online databases for currently open or enrolling trials, or your doctor may suggest that you enroll in one.

In helping to treat different kinds of cancer, there are over fifty drugs that are used. The duty of a skilled oncologist is to prescribe the ones that are best for your particular situation – but that doesn’t mean that you have to – or even should – accept all of his judgments blindly. In order to discover the side effects and other concerns, ask him to write down the names of the drugs that are being used so that you can research them yourself.

Finally, be sure to discuss any complementary or alternative therapies that you are using, even nutritional supplements. Some of them may interfere with the drugs that are prescribed in unexpected ways, particularly those that claim to enhance your immune system.

It’s important for you to consume healthy, and some foods and supplements may be helpful while you’re undergoing chemotherapy – but it is essential that whatever you’re using and taking your health professional must know.

Lung Cancer Treatment Options – Surgery

Surgery is the only option in the early stages of some lung cancers which offers the best chance for a complete recovery from cancer. If in the early stages, when the non-small cell lung cancer is performed, then in reference to medical literature about lung cancer, the tumor becomes small and there is no proof of spread to any other organ systems and there is a chance for the patient up to an 80%, in order to protect away from lung cancer with the help of surgery.

For Some Lung Cancers Surgery is suggested. But why it’s not suggested for others?

Probably, the most recommended lung cancer for non-small lung cancer is surgery, especially in the early stages. If the small lung cancer is in the initial stages, then also it may be recommended. The reason for this is the rapid growth of the small cell lung cancer in which it was rarely found prior to begun to disseminate to other parts of the body.

On the other hand, non-small cell lung cancer does not spread as fast or as virulently. Due to the confinement nature of it in one location, in one surgery there is a greater chance to remove all of the cancer.

The location of the tumor is also plays an important role in operation to surgically remove the lung cancer. Cancer that is located too close to the windpipe, the heart, major blood vessels or other major organs may present more risks and dangers if surgery is attempted. In that case, a doctor may suggest chemotherapy or radiation to minimize and kill the cancerous cells.

For the Lung cancer of Lung Cancer what type of Surgery is being used?

In order to treat lung cancer, there are three important kinds of surgery that are based on the size and location of the cancer found.

If in view of the Oncologist, the cancer has been located early and is limited to a very minimal part of the lung, he can perform a ‘lung resection’ or a ‘segmentectomy’. For both the surgeries, a small section of the lung was removed – only the part where the cancerous cells have been found. The doctor can use more fundamental surgeries, if there is a probability that the cancer may damage nearby cells.

The remove of one or more lobes of one lung, but not the entire lung, is called a lobectomy. If the thoracic surgeon suspects that the part of the lung is damaged, but the cancer has not spread to the entire lung, then he may opt for a lobectomy.

Pneumonectomy which is known as the removal of the entire lung is the possible option for the surgeon, if he believes that the entire lung may be involved. Prior to performing a complete pnemonectomy, tests were arranged by the doctors to ensure that whether the remaining lung can support your needs for oxygen or not.

Don’t forget, for the most cancers, surgery is not the treatment of choice for most cancers. It’s a very invasive lung cancer, and doctors’ will only attempt it if there is a chance that it will remove the cancer completely. Beyond a small part of your lung, if the cancer has already advanced, or if it is fast spreading, then it makes a little sense to remove by surgery to. In that case, chemotherapy, radiology or another kind of lung cancer is a more realistic alternative.

Lung Cancer Treatment Options – Radiation

Lung Cancer is not only the option for many cases. This may be due to the complex stage of the cancer, the site of the tumor or tumors, or because of the whole general health of the patient. Radiation Therapy may be the lung cancer suggested by the Oncologist in those cases. Either prior to the surgery or after the surgery, the doctor may recommend irradiation to shrink the tumor and destroy any remaining cancer cells respectively.

What is Radiation Therapy?

In radiation therapy – or radiotherapy – in order to destroy the speedily dividing cells, high-powered x-rays are beamed at the location of the cancer cells. The healthy and cancerous cells in that location were killed off by the radiation, but to reduce the side affects of radiation on healthy cells, there are methods of delivering the radiation.

In the most used radiotherapy which is External Beam Therapy, a highly focused beam of radiation is aimed directly at the edges of the tumor site. The probability of damaging healthy cells was reduced by the EBT due to the concentration. In ‘fractions’ – short durations of radiation spread over several weeks, EBT will often be delivered.

According to the most recent studies, when compared to larger fractions spread out over a longer period of time, the best effects are had when there are more frequent, shorter fractions. You have to discuss about the suitable timing for you with your doctor.

Conformal radiation therapy is another type of radiation therapy in which a CAT scan helps to create a 3-D image of the tumor and shape the x-ray beams exactly to the size and shape of the tumor. The harm to surrounding tissues is nearly eliminated entirely, when conformal radiation therapy is used.

In order to target the cancerous cells, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy is an advanced form of precision radiation therapy that works with a CAT scan. To affect only limited areas of the tumor, it can be fine-tuned.

To relieve the symptoms of lung cancer, sometimes radiation therapy is used, even if it won’t cure the cancer on its own. It may be prescribed before or after surgery, and be designed to shrink the tumor, or make it less active.

Instead of using an external beam in those areas, Branchy therapy, a procedure in which the surgeon implants small, radioactive seeds directly at the location of the cancer may be recommended by a doctor. Brach therapy can help stop bleeding in tumors, and open up blocked airways by minimizing the size of tumors blocking the bronchi or windpipe.

The one and only treatment recommended for lung cancer is the Radiotherapy. If there is any suspicion that the cancer may have spread – as is often the case in small cell lung cancer – your oncologist will possibly also recommend a course of chemotherapy, either before, after or concurrent with the radiotherapy.

Due to the localization of the radiotherapy – the beam is focused directly at the cancerous cells – using it in conjunction with chemotherapy usually offers a better chance at clearing up lung cancer completely and preventing a recurrence.

Lung Cancer Treatment Options – Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy is one of the newest options for treating lung cancer. PDT is most regularly suggested for inoperable lung cancer that is primarily situated in the trachea or the bronchi, or for cancers that have metastasized from other sites to the bronchi or trachea.

PDT may be either curative (meant to remove the cancer entirely) or palliative (meant to relieve symptoms of cancer when it cannot be completely removed). Symptoms of cancer comprising bleeding and difficulty breathing because of tumors that block the trachea or bronchi were particularly relieved by using PDT.

Tumors obstructing the airways can cause pneumonia, coughing, bleeding and difficulty breathing. The stage and size of the tumor or tumors are the two factors that the photodynamic therapy mainly depends.

There are three parts in PDT. The first is an intravenous injection of a drug that makes cells more sensitive to light. This drug – Photofrin – is retained in cancerous cells, but not in healthy cells. Forty to fifty hours later, a laser light is inserted through a flexible tube into the bronchial passages.

Bronchoscope

It exposes the cancerous cells to a low intensity red laser light which destroys the cancer cells. About two days later, the bronchoscopy is repeated, this time to remove the dead cancer cells and accumulated mucus from the trachea or bronchi.

To apt as a suitable candidate for the photodynamic therapy, the cancer must be located in a place where the bronchoscope can reach, and it must be large enough to be visualized by the bronchoscope. Photodynamic will not be possible, if the cancer is growing outside the trachea or the bronchial air passages.

There are minimal side effects for PDT. The most lasting effect is photosensitivity. The injection of Photofrin can result in sensitivity to light that lasts for four to eight weeks after lung cancer. This can cause severe sunburn if a person who has taken it is exposed to normal sunlight. Due to this reason, to avoid exposure to sunlight for four to eight weeks after the lung cancer, taking precautions is recommended people who undergo PDT.

Tumors

Avoiding the risks associated with major surgery, the treatment of tumors that were inoperable because of their location, and almost immediate effects when used for palliative purposes are the advantages of photodynamic therapy over other types of surgery or treatment for lung cancer.

In order to determine the location of tumors, evaluation for photodynamic therapy includes an initial medical history, followed by chest x-rays and CT scans. To make sure that the cancer is reachable with the bronchoscope, the doctor may also perform a diagnostic bronchoscopy.

Depending on the type and stage of the lung cancer, treatment for lung cancer with photodynamic therapy may be combined with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. To give their patients the most possible chances for survival and quality of life, most doctors use a multi-treatment approach.