Diana Castaneda
Latin Agency for News of Medicine and Public Health
Currently, lung cancer continues to be the most prevalent worldwide, it is estimated that in the United States there are around 230,000 cases and approximately 176,000 deaths a year are related to this disease.
“This compared to conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which cause problems in millions of people, is not considered as frequent, but, like most of these patients (with lung cancer ) they are not doing well and many die because of this, the figure is very important, “he said for the Journal of Medicine and Public Health (MSP) Dr. Jesse Román, pulmonologist and director of the Pulmonary and Intensive Care program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
In addition, the doctor, who has lived in the United States for 30 years, argued that this type of cancer has surpassed breast cancer in many areas of the world, being one of the leading causes of death.
Advances in lung cancer treatments with no data available
The specialist says that at this time there are a large number of drugs that are being used, “they are certain genes and biological pathways that the tumor cell uses to grow and protect itself or resist treatment, and these new drugs affect those areas. It is believed that this will increase and improve the lives of patients, however, the data is not available yet”He argues.
With the above, the doctor assures that it is important to emphasize this situation, since, despite the advances of recent years, the survival of a patient with lung cancer is usually 18% to 25%.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least a third of patients with lung cancer are preventable. Given this, Dr. Román agrees that, whether people avoid tobacco use, which is the most common cause of this type of cancer; In addition to contact with asbestos and other environmental changes, the suffering of this disease can be mitigated.
On the other hand, media like Radiology Info refers that approximately one third of patients with lung cancer are diagnosed with localized disease that can be treated, either by surgical resection, or if the patient is not a candidate for this treatment, with defined radiotherapy. Another third of patients have the disease already spread to the lymph nodes. In such cases, radiation therapy is used in combination with chemotherapy and sometimes surgery. The last third of patients may have tumors that have already spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream, which are usually treated with chemotherapy and sometimes radiation therapy to relieve symptoms.
“We still don’t have a good strategy to treat and cure, which is the most important thing. The best thing is to diagnose the patient early and, most importantly, to avoid the conditions that promote this type of cancer, such as smoking ”, clarified the pulmonologist.
Diagnosis
The most frequent symptoms for the detection of this type of cancer are: frequent cough, shortness of breath, tiredness, fatigue, chest pain, and sometimes, coughing up blood. At this time, in which the patient arrives with some of these ailments, the cancer is a little advanced.
The director of the Intensive and Pulmonary Care program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, says that ideally what is intended is to detect cancer before the person begins to present the ailments, but if the patient has a history such as smoking, performs an X-ray to find the presence of nodules that ultimately turn out to be cancer.
“In these studies, when the person’s prospectus is reviewed, it is detected that there is an increase in survival of 20% and it is believed that it is because the cancer is detected earlier. So the faster it is, the easier it is to remove. But, once the tumor grows to a certain size, it invades some adjacent areas that can no longer be surgically removed, which is why most of the time they are treated with radiotherapy or chemotherapy, “said Dr. Jesse Román.
Types of lung cancer
The specialist assured that small cell cancer is the most common. “This is where adenocarcinoma comes in. Today squamous carcinoma is included, these are a pathological histology classification that is observed by a pathologist, and it is the most common lung cancer that we have found today. For example, the small cell is more aggressive and often when it is detected it has already run to the most central area of the lung ”he added.
Small cell lung cancer:
In the case of disease in a limited stage (confined to the chest), chemotherapy and radiotherapy are used as curative treatments. Radiation usually begins concurrently with the first and second doses of chemotherapy. Six weeks of radiation once a day or three weeks of radiation twice a day are common radiation regimens.
For limited stages, the radiation oncologist may suggest radiation therapy to the brain even when cancer has not been found there.
For advanced-stage SCLC, chemotherapy alone is the primary course of therapy.
For advanced stages, the radiation oncologist may consider radiation therapy to the brain even when no cancer has been found there. The evidence for prophylactic brain radiation is less strong than that for limited-stage disease.
Non-small cell lung cancer:
Early stages: the earliest NSCLCs are very small tumors. Special tests may be needed to locate the main tumor. Tumors in early stages are treated with surgery or stereotactic radiation therapy.
Advanced stage: combined treatment is indicated when the cancer has spread to structures near the lung such as the chest wall, diaphragm, or lymph nodes in the chest. Depending on the exact location of the cancer, radiation therapy may be given alone or in combination with surgery and / or chemotherapy.
–
