The technology used today to treat lung cancer patients who have already reached stage four is much less evasive and more effective amongst lung cancer patients However, with modern technology the number of cancer survivors are expected to increase. The new treatments available for lung cancer patients are now much more diverse such as the use of oxygen treatments, immunotherapy, and several other lung cancer treatments. There are four stages of cancer for the last stage number four is wide spread. Lung cancer patients who are at stage for now have more options to choose from in regards to treatment.
Cancer is something that is becoming more prevalent now that we have learned the dangers of smoking... "In 2016 there will be an estimated 1,685,210 new cancer cases amongst Americans "("American Cancer Society | Cancer Facts & Statistics." American Cancer Society | Cancer Facts & Statistics. N.P., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. ) as lung cancer being the number one type of cancer being diagnosed. The effects of lung cancer are categorized into four different stages depending on whether the cells are small or large focusing on non-small cells I have learned that the stages are more concise and clearly defined.
Non-small so Long cancers are broken down into four different categories ranging from stage one where it is confined strictly to the lungs. In this stage the cancer cells are confined to one lung unless there are tumors. Stage one lung cancer is considered to be at the limited stage for this reason so long as the cancer cells are on the same side. . Stage two and three the cancer may be confined to the lungs however, it may also spread to the lymph nodes as well as the other lung. In stages 2 and three it is common for the cancer to have carina and bronchi, which are located within the lungs. Stage for lung cancer means that "once the cancer has entered the bloodstream the cells can go just about anywhere in the body."(What Are the Different Stages of Cancer (Cancer Institute NSW)." Cancer Institute NSW. N.P., n.d. Web. 1 May 2016. ). And in stage four lung cancer patients the cancer has spread to the other lung or even the fluid around the lungs it may also be possible to spread to other parts of the body as a whole. Once a patients has exhibited signs of stage 4 cancer it is common that the cancer cells have spread to distant lymph nodes.
The effects of stage for lung cancer can be extremely cumbersome. With symptoms such as "wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest pains and other ignored symptoms of lung cancer."(Krans, Brian. "The Progression of Lung Cancer | Symptoms & Stages of Lung Cancer. Healthline. N.P., 28 Jan. 2013. Web. 26 May 2016.) Symptoms can present themselves as common ailments by time the cancer has gotten to stage for it can be too late. Some of the more ambiguous symptoms of stage four lung cancer are the loss of one's voice which can also be attributed to difficulty swallowing and facial paralysis. It is important to stay in contact with your doctor when you are dealing with any type of cancer however in lung cancer because it does affect the respiratory system as a whole it is very important to recognize symptoms and take them very seriously. Weight loss and joint pain may seem like symptoms of the common flu but when you have lung cancer the symptoms cannot be taken lightly. It is very important to get the correct diagnosis in regards to the stage of lung cancer that one is experiencing.
Being diagnosed with stage for lung cancer isn't as easy as one may think. It is important to get several opinions from doctors in order to confirm one's stage. Several tests will be done to confirm that the patient is in stage four such as a biopsy which is performed to confirm abnormal cells. A sputum cytology is also used to examine the mucus within the lungs in conjunction with a PET scan which allows doctors to determine if a tumor is cancerous. A bronchoscopy is the most effective way to look into your airways in order to diagnose the severity of cancer in the lungs or the lymph nodes. It also allows the doctor to take a sample which is also known as a biopsy of the tissues within the lungs. These types of tests are customary in diagnosing which stage of cancer and lung cancer patient is in. Once the tests have confirmed that a patient is in stage four lung cancer is very important to come up with a treatment plan. Sometimes the treatment plan is arranged by meeting with a group of doctors who will then suggest the most effective treatment in one's case. Or simply meeting with a primary care doctor or specialist who will discuss the treatments available today whether evasive or non-evasive.
Through the advancement of technology there are several types of less evasive treatments now available to stage 4 lung cancer patients. Immunotherapy is a type of lung cancer treatment that focuses on strengthening the immune system against tumor antigens. The sole purpose of this therapy is to recognize and destroy proteins in the cancer cells. Doctors administer a drug called a PD-1 one inhibitor this inhibitor is most effective on cancer cells that have been mutated and caused by smoking. This inhibitor focuses on the immune system and when coupled with other cancer therapies has proven to be effective. The PD-1 inhibitor has "produced remarkable results, completely eliminating metastatic cancer in some patients."(Keisler, Eva. "Why a New Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer Works for Only Some People." Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. N.P., 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 15 May 2016.) However it is not beneficial for every cancer patient. Researchers are working to understand what makes this drug successful in some and ineffective in others.
Insulin potentiation therapy is a treatment that involves using insulin on nondiabetic patients in order to "increase cell membrane permeability and influence the metabolic process with the number of physiochemical changes which help the recuperating process in healing cancerous cells." (Hauser RA, Hauser RA (Eds). Treating cancer with insulin potentiation therapy. Beulah Land Press, Oak Park, Illinois, 2002.)The sugars help to move fluid and eliminate toxic products. We know that cells get their injury from sugar and with this energy is able to multiply its cells rapidly. The idea is to stimulate the secretion of epinephrine and glucocorticoid hormones which help to slow down the creation of energy for the tumorous cells. This particular treatment is most effective in patients who have tumors located on their lungs or have formed due to the lung cancer itself.
Virotherapy is the use of oncolytic viruses to lower the cancer cell count and lung cancer patients. Viral therapy uses common viruses while being able to leave healthy cells alone. These viruses live selectively in tumorous cells and are not found in healthy cells. Viral therapeutics is relatively new and tests have shown that while grown in a laboratory succeed at a much faster rate than in real live lungs cancer cells anaclitic viral therapy is most effective on tumors using the vaccinia virus as a therapy to attack lung cancer cells. "oncolytic viral therapy of tumors is an upcoming, promising therapeutic modality of cancer therapy based on the lytic destruction of solid tumors mediated by infection of the malignant tissue by tumor specific viruses. " ( Bourke MG, Salwa S, Harrington KJ, Kucharczyk MJ, Forde PF, de Kruijf M, Soden D, Tangney M, Collins JK, O'Sullivan GC: The emerging role of viruses in the treatment of solid tumors. Cancer Treat Rev. 2011, 37: 618-632.) Virotherapy is a type of treatment that is more on the naturalistic side being that it uses viruses that naturally attack cancerous lung cells. In stage 4 cancer patients this can be very beneficial being that at this stage the cells are more wide spread and no longer localized to just the lungs. These types of viruses will attack cancerous cells throughout the body not just localized cancerous cells.
Neutron brachytherapy is a type of therapy that uses neutron radiotherapy and is relatively safe. It is generally used on bulky areas such as the head, neck, brain, and the lungs in this journal by the US Department of energy it also suggests that radiology and nuclear medicine was extremely effective within lung cancer patients, and external radiation. This type of therapy uses advanced technology to move radioactive waves near the tumor protecting healthy cells and other tissues. This localized therapy is specifically for tumors in stage four cancer patients. This type of therapy is very invasive now that it is localized to specific areas. When one thinks of radiation they think of a very invasive procedure that may leave the patient worse off than if they were to have not gone through therapy. Brachytherapy is also known as internal radiotherapy because it does focus on just the tumors within the lungs. The radioactive waves this type of therapy emits has been proven to be successful in treating stage four lung cancer patients.
Brachytherapy is most effective when the cancer is confined in just the lungs. Although stage four cancer patients experience widespread multiplying of cancerous cells this therapy is most effective when the cancer is caught in the developing stages before it reaches the lymph nodes in different parts of the body. Brachytherapy is not a high-risk procedure like some other invasive treatments that are available.
Some of the more invasive treatments available are chemotherapy, radiology and widespread surgery. . It seems as though the toxicity of the respiratory system increase after some types of therapy such as radiation, and chemotherapy. Sandra McDonald and Philip Rubin are both MDs that have been researching the effects of the toxins released in chemotherapy and other different types of therapies for lung cancer and They propose that the development of symptoms for IQ and Blake toxicity are more prevalent later after the therapies are done. They also suggest that radiation tolerance and chemotherapy has a risk factor were some patients were immune to the treatment. The advancement of technology is an ongoing derivative and based on the effects of evasive treatments it is and was definitely needed.
These types of therapies that I have discussed have minimal side effects and can be used in any stage of cancer however it is most effective in stage for lung cancer patients when used correctly. Some of the treatments are most effective when coupled with some other less invasive treatments such as sonodynamic therapy and oxygen treatments. The treatments that I have discussed are fairly new and are only being fine-tuned in order to be that more effective on stage four lung cancer patients.
The different types of treatments are most effective on lung cancer patients however you must take into consideration the diagnosis and stage of the patient's cancer. Along with tumor history whether or not it is benign or malignant. The approach that will be most effective for something that needs to be discussed with one's medical team in order to help one fight the cancer the best way possible. With today's advancement of technology stage for lung cancer is no longer a death sentence.
The purpose of this paper was to not only educate the public on the less invasive approaches to treating lung cancer and those who have reached stage for but also to encourage those who are currently experiencing the effects of stage four lung cancer. I would like for my readers to understand that there are several different types of treatments and therapies available that were not available in prior years. These therapies are no longer in the testing stage but are actually saving lives and helping people overcome their cancer. My grandfather passed away of lung cancer and I wish that we knew the different types of therapies that were available. He opted to do surgery and ended up going into a coma and suffering a stroke while in the coma. Because of his age there we knew that there were several risks to the procedure being that the doctors had to slow down the blood flow to almost a trickle in order to prevent any blood clotting which proved to be extremely dangerous in his situation and because of this he suffered a stroke. However, we never thought that he would end up passing away over sustaining a stroke in the midst of surgery. Drs. did not even know that he had had a stroke during surgery this was later found out afterwards. I believe that this personal experience that I have suffered has enabled me to go out and research the different types of treatments available. It is up to us to do our own research and speak with her doctors about the most effective treatment possible. Most cancer patients are riddled with the two options of chemotherapy and surgery however it is 2016 and there are more options to effectively treat stage four lung cancer.
The most interesting piece of feedback that I received was that my ideas did not seem to flow and I seem to have a hard time putting my thoughts together in a manner that is easily understood. This is extremely disturbing because I find myself speaking that way to people in real life. It's like I have so many ideas but I do not know how to put them down on paper or get them out in a manner that makes sense or flows. This is something that I try to work on when creating my first draft and it is very hard because I did put effort into it and still got the same feedback that I try to avoid. I plan on revising my paper by reading through it several times and using transitions where appropriate. Another suggestion was that I use different verbiage and so I plan on using that there thesaurus in order to avoid using words repetitively. I also printed a copy and when it came back with several grammatical errors pointed out I will use spellcheck and reread my work to fix this as deemed appropriate
Works cited
Krans, Brian. "The Progression of Lung Cancer | Symptoms & Stages of Lung Cancer." Healthline. N.P., 28 Jan. 2013. Web. 26 May 2016.
What Are the Different Stages of Cancer (Cancer Institute NSW)." Cancer Institute NSW. N.P., n.d. Web. 1 May 2016.
"American Cancer Society | Cancer Facts & Statistics." American Cancer Society | Cancer Facts & Statistics. N.P., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016.
Keisler, Eva. "Why a New Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer Works for Only Some People." Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. N.P., 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 15 May 2016
Hauser RA, Hauser RA (Eds). Treating cancer with insulin potentiation therapy. Beulah Land Press, Oak Park, Illinois, 2002.
Bourke MG, Salwa S, Harrington KJ, Kucharczyk MJ, Forde PF, de Kruijf M, Soden D, Tangney M, Collins JK, O'Sullivan GC: The emerging role of viruses in the treatment of solid tumors. Cancer Treat Rev. 2011, 37: 618-632.
Hi Myesha, first off all, WELCOME to the Essay Forum Family, I hope you will find this website helpful as well as useful towards your writing projects. We strive to provide you with the best ideas and the most accurate feedback in order for you to come up with the most comprehensive writing to answer the prompt or the task at hand.
Moving forward, I believe your research paper is well presented, the information are gathered in a way that it supports each and every fact you wrote in the paper. Furthermore, I was able to understand the research as you crafted them in a well organized manner. The words you choose are also very simple, this absolutely helps your readers understand the paper very well.
As you mentioned, your goal is not only to educate people but also to encourage the public to go and gather more information, research and be open to other forms of treatment to cancer. I, for one, believe that cancer can be treated and it's also in the head of the patient, the courage to conquer the disease and be positive is always the best way to go and of course a lot of prayer too.
