‘Stage Of Lung Cancer’

Lung Cancer Surgery Options

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Lung Cancer Surgery Options

Lung cancer can be treated by various therapies that are often used in combination to provide optimal outcomes for patients. Surgical resection is the surgical process in which the tumor, and is usually recommended if the cancer has not metastasized (or spread) outside the lungs to other parts of the body.

There are several options for doing that may involve resection of minimally invasive surgery or full operation. The technique used will depend on many factors, especially the size and stage of cancer and tumors are accessible to a surgeon.

Thoracotomy performed by a surgeon makes an incision through the chest wall and the average sternotomy performed by entering the chest cavity through the sternum. The second method is usually used in surgery for lung cancer, but they simply involve the discomfort and prolonged patient stay in hospital with a recovery period longer.

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Treatment For Every Stage Of Lung Cancer (II)

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Treatment For Every Stage Of Lung Cancer

Limited Stage
In general, chemotherapy is used as primary treatment, with the use of several drugs in combination.

With chemotherapy is used radiotherapy to the chest. Patients who respond well to initial treatment is administered, so preventive radiation to the head. This is because the brain is one of the sites where metastases frequently occur.

In most patients, these tumors resolve with treatment, but soon reappear becoming resistant to treatment. The survival rate of two years in the limited stage, is 40% to 50% but is reduced by 10% to 20% for five years.

Many studies are underway to test the effectiveness of other treatments such as immunotherapy or gene therapy.

Extensive stage
The prognosis at this stage is very bad if left untreated cancer. Chemotherapy may be used to treat symptoms and flatter short-term survival.

Treatment with two or more drugs can shrink tumors in about 70% to 80% of these patients. Radiation therapy is also used to control symptoms and prevent the occurrence of brain metastases.

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Treatment For Every Stage Of Lung Cancer (I)

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Treatments of lung cancer

Stage 0
At this stage do not require chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Surgery may completely remove the cancer. The type of surgery is a segmentectomy, ie the removal of a lung wedge.

Stage I
Segmentectomy is generally used for smaller tumors or for patients with worse physical condition, or lobectomy to remove the tumor.

The effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy, is being tested in clinical trials. Although micrometastases is useful for those that have not been identified and have not been removed by surgery.

If the tumor is at the edge of the lung tissue probably not have removed all the cancer cells, so radiation therapy is recommended.

Radiation therapy can be used as primary treatment if the patient, general condition, can not undergo surgery. The survival rate after five years in this stage is 65%.

Stage II
Used surgery: segmentectomy or lobectomy.

Radiation therapy can be used after surgery to ensure that it is not any cancer cells. It can also be used as primary therapy in those patients who can not be operated on by health problems. Chemotherapy may be used after surgery or radiotherapy.

The survival rate for patients who are in this stage of cancer is 40%.

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