Lung Cancer Cure And Treatments

There are various stages of lung cancer. Each stage has specific lung cancer cure and treatment methods. That is why regular check up with a competent doctor is imperative in order to ascertain the most current condition or the present stage of the lung cancer, so that proper medications and treatments can be applied.

Stages are determined by the extent of the spread of cancer on the lungs. Some diagnostic tests are usually conducted in order to determine the stage of the lung cancer. Stages are categorized from stage 1 up to stage 4. Stage one is the starting phase of the cancer where only a small portion of one of the lungs is affected. Stage 2 is an advanced stage of moderate condition where the cancer has grown into a larger size. In stage 3 lung cancer, the cancerous cells may have already spread to the nearby tissues. In some cases, lymph nodes are already affected by cancer cells. The last stage, which is the stage 4, is the most serious condition where the cancer has already metastasized to various parts of the body.

Some of the most common options in lung cancer cure are surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted drug therapy. On top of the above treatments, supportive care must be provided to the patient in order to assist the person in the proper management of cancer. Surgery is usually among the most preferred options. There are 4 types of lung cancer surgical procedures. These surgeries are lobectomy, or the removal of the whole lobe of a lung; segmental resection, which is the removal of only a certain portion of the lung but not the entire lobe; pneumonectomy, or the surgical removal of the whole lung; and the wedge resection surgery, which is the removal of only a minute area of the lung where the tumor has grown.

On the other hand, chemotherapy is the use of drugs, which is injected into the veins. This is an intravenous treatment where various types of drugs are administered to the patient for several consecutive sessions over a period of several weeks or few months, depending on the stage of the cancer.

Radiation therapy is another treatment that uses highly-advanced technology to treat the patient. In this case, x-ray or a powerful energy beam is used to kill cancer cells. The beam can either be directed at the affected lung area using a needle or catheter; or an external beam radiation is directed at the cancerous area from outside of the body.

One of the most recent methods in lung cancer cure is the targeted drug therapy where certain drugs are used to target more precise abnormalities in the cancer cells. Erlotinib and Bevacizumab are usually prescribed by the doctors in this method.

As earlier mentioned, different treatment options for lung cancer cure are used in different stages. For stage I, the first line treatments are surgery and chemotherapy. For stage 2, radiation therapy is added on top of the two options. Stage 3 has similar options with stage 2, except that they are sometimes combined depending on the condition of the patient. For stage 4, chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy are used, aside from providing supportive care to the patient.

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