Overview Of Effective Lung Cancer Treatment Options
Lung cancer is a type of cancer that originates in cells that form tissues of an individual's lungs or organs responsible for oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange in the body. Lung cancer leads the United States in most cancer precipitated fatalities, claiming more lives than prostate, ovarian, colon, and breast cancers combined. The most prevalent causes of lung cancer are cigarette smoking and prolonged secondhand smoke exposure. Chemicals in the smoke cause repeated and compounded cellular damage that eventually mutates the DNA to the point of malignancy. Individuals who do not smoke can also get lung cancer, but causes of such cases are unclear. Symptoms of lung cancer include shortness of breath, chest pain, headache, bone pain, hoarseness, coughing blood, and a persistent cough. A lung cancer diagnosis is made using x-ray images, CT scans, MRIs, sputum cytology, and a lung tissue biopsy.
Depending on individual circumstances, several options are available for lung cancer treatment.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is a method that can be used to treat lung cancer that uses concentrated beams or radioactive materials to destroy cancerous cells or stop them from growing. The most common form of radiation therapy used for lung cancer patients is referred to as external beam radiation. External beam radiation uses a large machine that aims the high energy beams at the skin above the local area where the cancerous tissue is located to minimize damage to healthy surrounding tissues. Another form of radiation often used to treat lung cancer is referred to as brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is a form of internal radiation therapy where a small quantity of radioactive material is placed into the patient's airway in close proximity to the cancerous tissue. The pellets or seeds containing the radioactive substance are typically removed from the patient's body after a set amount of time to allow the radiation to do damage and kill the malignant tumor cells.
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Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy refers to the use of a combination of potent medications to eliminate malignant cells in the body. This treatment works by targeting the cells in the body undergoing the cell division process and multiplying. Cancerous cells have specific characteristics where they grow faster, divide more often, and do not die at the rate healthy cells in the body do. Chemotherapy medications allow patients to take advantage of these properties of malignant cells because they are almost always in some stage of the cell division process. Chemotherapy medications are typically administered intravenously through a vein in a chemotherapy clinic, medical office, or hospital setting. Some patients may need to receive chemotherapy through central venous catheters or central venous access devices. CVCs and CVADs offer a stronger and larger intravenous entry point than a traditional intravenous catheter. Chemotherapy may be administered independently in cases where the patient is unable to undergo tumor excision surgery, or it can be combined with radiation therapy and surgical procedures.
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Surgical Options
An individual with lung cancer has numerous surgical options available for treatment. The type of surgery used to treat lung cancer depends on several factors, including the size and exact location of the tumor. The surgical option used for smaller localized areas of cancer within the patient's lung is referred to as a wedge resection, where the cancerous tissue and a small margin of healthy lung tissue around it are removed. When the cancerous tissue is of a larger extent than what can be treated with the wedge resection procedure, a surgical procedure referred to as a segmental resection is performed. A segmental resection involves removing a larger portion of lung tissue that contains the malignant tumor. When the cancerous tissue infiltrates most of one of the five lobes of the lung, a procedure where an entire lobe is removed, referred to as a lobectomy, is utilized to treat lung cancer. When very little tissue of the lung can be spared due to full cancer infiltration of most of the lobes of the lung, a pneumonectomy or entire lung removal procedure is used. Some patients who cannot tolerate a major surgical procedure may have to consider other treatment options for their lung cancer.
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Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a treatment method that utilizes the unique characteristics of the immune system to detect and fight off malignant cells. This type of therapy is possible because the immune system is such a complex mechanism with endless adaptive abilities. Checkpoint inhibitors work by stopping cancerous tumors from disabling the checks and balances mechanism that causes the inappropriate deactivation of the immune system in cancer patients. Monoclonal antibodies, another form of immunotherapy, work with the use of man-made antibodies specifically manipulated to target cancerous cells similar to the way natural antibodies in the immune system work. Adoptive cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy involving the removal of immune T cells from the body so they can be altered and manipulated in the laboratory before being placed back into the body to fight off cancer cells. Not all types of lung cancer can be treated with immunotherapy methods at this time, but it is a viable treatment method for some forms.
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Radiosurgery
Radiosurgery is known to be a good alternative to traditional open surgery because no large incisions are required. Radiosurgery involves the placement of small pieces of metal referred to as fiducials around the cancerous tissue between one and three weeks before the treatment session to mark the area for the treatment machine to follow. A large needle is typically used to place the fiducials in the body, so incisions are not required. Radiosurgery works by using high doses of radiation for longer sessions to damage and kill cancer cells. Radiation beams in radiosurgery are aimed at the area where the cancerous tissue is located from multiple different angles at the same time, making it a more targeted and powerful radiation method. Radiosurgery is really an advanced form of radiation therapy administered by a certain technique and process in fewer sessions than traditional radiation therapy.