The treatments that are available for lung cancer are as follows:
1. SURGERY. When someone is found with lung cancer, the first and most important determination is to decide if the cancer can be removed surgically. The decision whether to allow surgery or not is based on the size of the tumor when it is found (what is known as the stage of the lung cancer) as well as the condition of the person with the cancer. The tumor may be small enough to remove surgically, but the person may be too sick to tolerate the surgery because of other conditions such as heart disease or poorly controlled diabetes.
2. CHEMOTHERAPY. Once the decision has been made that surgery is not possible, the next decision is whether to give chemotherapy as treatment for the lung cancer. Traditionally, chemotherapy has always been a form of treatment for lung cancer whereby a liquid is given through a tube that is attached to a needle that is inserted into a vein. This treatment is given either in the doctor’s office or in the hospital. Chemotherapy has various side effects including the possibility of nausea and/or vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, lack of appetite, a lowering of the body’s blood cells and an increased risk for infections.
3. NEWER FORMS OF CHEMOTHERAPY. There are newer forms of chemotherapy that are being developed and used these days which are very different from the past traditional chemotherapy. A welcome change with regards to these new chemotherapy treatments is that these treatments are now often available as a pill. This means that with these newer treatments the person with lung cancer does not have to come to the doctor’s office or the hospital regularly any more for regular chemotherapy treatments. They can now just take a pill at home and only come to the doctor’s office for scheduled check ups.
4. RADIATION THERAPY. Occasionally, there is a need for a form of treatment for lung cancer known as radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is different from chemotherapy in that radiation therapy is basically a light that is delivered to the area with the cancer. Chemotherapy is either a liquid that is given or a pill that is taken and the medicine then circulates all through the body. Radiation therapy, on the other hand, is a light that one “shines” only on the area with the problem. Therefore, if the cancer spreads to a bone and that bone has pain because the cancer has moved there, radiation therapy can be given to that bone in order to decrease the pain. Radiation therapy can also be given to stop the person from coughing up blood as a result of the growth of the cancer.
All of the concepts and information given above, and many more, are covered thoroughly and in very easy to understand language in the Lung Cancer audio CD available on www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com.