Your medical history
your general health the type and location of the cancer or cancers and many other
factors are considered in determining the treatment needed. Your treatment must
be tailored to your individual needs.
Treatment of
lung cancer may take several form Surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy-often
in combination depending on your needs.
Surgery is the most common treatment for cancers
that are small, slow
growing and have neither invaded nearby tissue nor metastasized
(spread). Your surgeon must determine how much of your lung to remove, and if it
is necessary to include nearby lymph nodes (bean shaped structures in the lymphatic
system).
In recent years advances in surgical techniques
and medical care have made extensive surgery possible for persons previously considered
too old or infirm for this treatment. Today surgeons have the help of highly competent
teams of nurses, therapists, technicians and other professionals to support patients
throughout their post-operative period.
Following such an operation you should have regularly medical checkups to watch
for recurrence, metastasis or a second tumor elsewhere in your lung. If you were
a smoker you must stop smoking.
Treatment by radiation therapy may be used in combination
with surgery. It is given either before or after your operation. Radiation therapy
may be administered in a number of ways.
The basic principle of radiation therapy is to focus the beam of radiation on the
cancer at doses that will destroy the cancer with minimal damage to surrounding normal tissue. Radiation therapy uses X-rays. Cobalt or other sources of ionizing
radiation for destruction of the cancer.
If you have widely spread lung cancer treatment
with anticancer drugs is chosen. Radiation therapy is kept in reserve as a palliative
measure. Such palliative radiation therapy can greatly improve your quality of life
by relieving distressing symptoms, such as severe cough, pain, shortness of breath
or difficulty in swallowing.
Chemotherapy (treatment with anticancer drug) is
available to your physician in treating lung cancer. Anticancer drugs kill cancer
cells because the drugs can act on normal cells as well as cancerous ones. Your
physician must maintain a e
balance of enough drugs to kill cancer
cells without destroying
too many healthy cells.
Some anticancer drugs make you feel sick temporarily,
but your doctor tries to work out a treatment schedule that disrupts your daily
routine as little as possible. The length and frequency of chemotherapy depend upon
a number of factors. These includes your type of cancer, the type of anticancer
drugs prescribed, how long it takes you to respond to these drugs, and how well
you tolerate side effect of the drugs. Most chemotherapy programs are carried out
in the outpatients department of a hospital. However, sometimes short period of
hospitalization may be necessary in order to monitor the drug treatment very closely.
