The treatment of lung cancer is not limited to those who are smokers. Ten percent of those who do not use cigarettes are included as lung cancer patients. Read on as we find out the basic treatment of lung cancer and some other pertinent facts.
Some new treatments of lung cancer have been developed lately. One treatment of lung cancer that is receiving attention is called “molecular targeting therapy”. This is close to what Doctor Otto Warburg discovered in the 1930’s. The difference in the “molecular targeting therapy” approach is that it is done on a molecular level with genetic mutation as a focus. The study of DNA and its spinoffs is a popular approach to many things these days. Doctor Warburg’s approach was a biological one. Although this new treatment of lung cancer will reveal more on how a normal healthy cell can mutate into a cancerous cell, it will only display a partial view. The full view will be seen when genetics is combined with the past biological discoveries. For now, this new treatment of lung cancer will show some promise.
The treatment of lung cancer for small cell lung cancer can be chemotherapy or chemotherapy combined with drugs and radiation therapy. As most are familiar with radiation treatment this will probably need no explanation. The chemotherapy drugs can be new ones for those who choose to go through clinical trials. One newer treatment of lung cancer is to use a laser to kill cancer cells with powerful beams of light. This is also called photodynamic therapy and is used in tandem with a chemical to provide treatment of lung cancer.
Another treatment of lung cancer is called “internal radiation” therapy and involves radioactive material imbedded either directly into cancer tumors or nearby the tumors. Catheters, needles, seeds, and wires can be used to deliver the radioactive material to the location. This type of treatment of lung cancer has other names such as brachytherapy and implant radiation therapy. Using brachytherapy to help get rid of cancer is a curative and palliative process. Nevertheless it is usually used in combination with other treatments such as surgery which would hopefully make it a complete treatment of lung cancer and get rid of all cancer cells.
Lung cancer kills about one million people worldwide. New and better treatment of lung cancer is no doubt needed to help combat this. A general statistic is that fifteen percent of those who get lung cancer will have five years left to their life. Of course those whose cancer is found earliest have a a longer expected survival.