Every year
over 45,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK, accounting for 13%
of all new cancer diagnoses and it’s the 3rd most common cancer, and
the most common cause of cancer death. It is believed that nearly 90% of all
lung cancer cases could have been prevented, as lifestyle factors make a huge
difference to this disease, proved by the fact that it is the over75s who are
typically affected, largely thanks to the tobacco smoking culture. (Statistics
courtesy of Cancer Research UK.) However being told it could have
been prevented isn’t particularly helpful to know if you have already been
diagnosed so read on to find out about the most common forms of treatment for
this disease.
First of
all, your treatment plan will depend on whether you have non-small-cell lung
cancer or small-cell lung cancer. Approximately 90% of all diagnosed lung
cancer cases are non-small-cell lung cancer which is slow growing and usually
found in the outer area of the lung. Occurring most commonly in smokers, it is
also the most common form of lung cancer in non-smokers too. Small-cell lung
cancer normally occurs in the middle of the lung and grows much more rapidly.
Cases are extremely rare in non-smokers.
Starting
with the most common form the non-small-cell lung cancer, treatment for this is
can be chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or a combination of these depending
on at what stage the cancer has been diagnosed. If you have early stage, you
are most likely to be prescribed a treatment of chemotherapy followed by
radiotherapy which is called adjuvant radiotherapy. These 2 in conjunction can
help slow and shrink the tumour, or in some cases even completely eliminate it.
Since this cancer often spreads to the brain, radiotherapy to the brain is often
administered too.
Surgery is
usually performed to get rid of the cancerous lung cells in non-small-cell
cancer if possible. Often some of the lymph nodes are removed to and sent out
for analysis to check for any cancerous cells too. Surgery tends to be
performed in cases of this cancer where it is near to the heart, major blood
vessels and the food or wind pipes. While this is daunting, your breathing
should not be altered by this drastic-sounding operation and surgeons are even
able to remove up to one lung without altering your breathing.
Since
small-cell lung cancer has generally already spread by the time that it is
detected, surgery isn’t normally used to treat it. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are both used to
shrink and slow down the tumour, as well as other treatments to relive and
control the symptoms. However for very early stage small-cell cancer that has
not yet spread to the lymph nodes found in the middle of the chest, a lobectomy
can be performed which is removal of one lobe of the lung.
Lung
treatment is usually carried out fairly rapidly following diagnosis as since
with most if not all cancers, time is an important factor as the earlier its
caught, the easier it is to treat. With private cancer clinics or if your consultant recommends
you, there are clinical trials that place too. Check out the Cancer Research
Site above to see if you are eligible to get involved too. For more information
about lung cancer treatment, visit the NHS website.
Abbie Owens is a progressive promoter in all
things related to health and wellbeing. Currently studying Health Policy and
Management at the University of Exeter and is the creator and main contributor
to the Think Healthy Magazine.
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