Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one of the newer lung cancer treatment options available today. Lung cancers are sometimes inoperable, particularly when they are situated in the bronchi or trachea. Similarly, cancers that have spread from other parts of the body to the bronchi cannot be removed surgically. In such cases, photodynamic therapy offers a safe and effective treatment option.
In a best-case scenario, PDT is used as a curative therapy that can eliminate the cancer completely. In many patients, PDT is employed as a palliative lung cancer treatment meant to provide relief from symptoms even though it does not cure the cancer.
Photodynamic therapy can effectively relieve symptoms like breathing difficulties from obstructions in the bronchi or trachea. In some patients, tumors block the airways and can cause coughing, breathing difficulties, pneumonia and bleeding. PDT may be used in such cases depending on the location, size and stage of the tumor.
PDT destroys cancer cells using a laser. To ensure that only cancerous cells are destroyed, a special drug is used to make the cancer cells more sensitive to this treatment while leaving normal cells intact.
There are three steps involved in the process of lung cancer treatment using PDT. In stage one, a drug called photofrin is injected intravenously. This drug has the property of making body cells very sensitive to light. Normal, healthy cells eliminate photofrin, but cancerous cells are unable to do so and the drug is retained in such cells.
In the second stage of PDT, about forty to fifty hours after the injection is given, a flexible tube is inserted into the bronchia. This tube contains a red laser of low intensity. The cancer cells exposed to this laser are destroyed.
In the third and final stage, about two days after the laser light exposure, a bronchoscopy is done to get rid of the dead cancer cells and mucus from the bronchi or trachea.
A patient can benefit from photodynamic therapy only if his or her cancer is situated in a location that is accessible to a bronchoscope. Also, the tumor must be large enough so that the bronchoscope can easily detect it. This means that some cancers like those located outside the bronchial passages cannot be treated with PDT.
Lung cancer treatment with PDT offers almost no dangerous side effects, unlike other treatment methods. Photosensitivity is about the only side effect that lasts for a while. Since photofrin makes cells sensitive to light, the patient may experience heightened light sensitivity for a period of four to eight weeks after the treatment.
During this time, even normal exposure to sunlight can result in severe sunburn. For this reason, patients who have undergone PDT are advised not to venture out into the sun for about eight weeks after their lung cancer treatment. In contrast to photodynamic therapy, major surgery done to eliminate lung cancer usually poses much greater risks.
Many tumors that are inoperable because of their location are prime candidates for treatment with PDT. When used as a palliative, this type of lung cancer treatment offers almost immediate relief.
Showing posts with label Lung Cancer Treatment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lung Cancer Treatment. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Lung Cancer Treatment -- Photodynamic Therapy Offers a Safe Alternative
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one of the newer lung cancer treatment options available today. Lung cancers are sometimes inoperable, particularly when they are situated in the bronchi or trachea. Similarly, cancers that have spread from other parts of the body to the bronchi cannot be removed surgically. In such cases, photodynamic therapy offers a safe and effective treatment option.
In a best-case scenario, PDT is used as a curative therapy that can eliminate the cancer completely. In many patients, PDT is employed as a palliative lung cancer treatment meant to provide relief from symptoms even though it does not cure the cancer.
Photodynamic therapy can effectively relieve symptoms like breathing difficulties from obstructions in the bronchi or trachea. In some patients, tumors block the airways and can cause coughing, breathing difficulties, pneumonia and bleeding. PDT may be used in such cases depending on the location, size and stage of the tumor.
PDT destroys cancer cells using a laser. To ensure that only cancerous cells are destroyed, a special drug is used to make the cancer cells more sensitive to this treatment while leaving normal cells intact.
There are three steps involved in the process of lung cancer treatment using PDT. In stage one, a drug called photofrin is injected intravenously. This drug has the property of making body cells very sensitive to light. Normal, healthy cells eliminate photofrin, but cancerous cells are unable to do so and the drug is retained in such cells.
In the second stage of PDT, about forty to fifty hours after the injection is given, a flexible tube is inserted into the bronchia. This tube contains a red laser of low intensity. The cancer cells exposed to this laser are destroyed.
In the third and final stage, about two days after the laser light exposure, a bronchoscopy is done to get rid of the dead cancer cells and mucus from the bronchi or trachea.
A patient can benefit from photodynamic therapy only if his or her cancer is situated in a location that is accessible to a bronchoscope. Also, the tumor must be large enough so that the bronchoscope can easily detect it. This means that some cancers like those located outside the bronchial passages cannot be treated with PDT.
Lung cancer treatment with PDT offers almost no dangerous side effects, unlike other treatment methods. Photosensitivity is about the only side effect that lasts for a while. Since photofrin makes cells sensitive to light, the patient may experience heightened light sensitivity for a period of four to eight weeks after the treatment.
During this time, even normal exposure to sunlight can result in severe sunburn. For this reason, patients who have undergone PDT are advised not to venture out into the sun for about eight weeks after their lung cancer treatment. In contrast to photodynamic therapy, major surgery done to eliminate lung cancer usually poses much greater risks.
Many tumors that are inoperable because of their location are prime candidates for treatment with PDT. When used as a palliative, this type of lung cancer treatment offers almost immediate relief.
Given all these advantages, increasing numbers of patients have been using photodynamic therapy as a lung cancer treatment of choice.
In a best-case scenario, PDT is used as a curative therapy that can eliminate the cancer completely. In many patients, PDT is employed as a palliative lung cancer treatment meant to provide relief from symptoms even though it does not cure the cancer.
Photodynamic therapy can effectively relieve symptoms like breathing difficulties from obstructions in the bronchi or trachea. In some patients, tumors block the airways and can cause coughing, breathing difficulties, pneumonia and bleeding. PDT may be used in such cases depending on the location, size and stage of the tumor.
PDT destroys cancer cells using a laser. To ensure that only cancerous cells are destroyed, a special drug is used to make the cancer cells more sensitive to this treatment while leaving normal cells intact.
There are three steps involved in the process of lung cancer treatment using PDT. In stage one, a drug called photofrin is injected intravenously. This drug has the property of making body cells very sensitive to light. Normal, healthy cells eliminate photofrin, but cancerous cells are unable to do so and the drug is retained in such cells.
In the second stage of PDT, about forty to fifty hours after the injection is given, a flexible tube is inserted into the bronchia. This tube contains a red laser of low intensity. The cancer cells exposed to this laser are destroyed.
In the third and final stage, about two days after the laser light exposure, a bronchoscopy is done to get rid of the dead cancer cells and mucus from the bronchi or trachea.
A patient can benefit from photodynamic therapy only if his or her cancer is situated in a location that is accessible to a bronchoscope. Also, the tumor must be large enough so that the bronchoscope can easily detect it. This means that some cancers like those located outside the bronchial passages cannot be treated with PDT.
Lung cancer treatment with PDT offers almost no dangerous side effects, unlike other treatment methods. Photosensitivity is about the only side effect that lasts for a while. Since photofrin makes cells sensitive to light, the patient may experience heightened light sensitivity for a period of four to eight weeks after the treatment.
During this time, even normal exposure to sunlight can result in severe sunburn. For this reason, patients who have undergone PDT are advised not to venture out into the sun for about eight weeks after their lung cancer treatment. In contrast to photodynamic therapy, major surgery done to eliminate lung cancer usually poses much greater risks.
Many tumors that are inoperable because of their location are prime candidates for treatment with PDT. When used as a palliative, this type of lung cancer treatment offers almost immediate relief.
Given all these advantages, increasing numbers of patients have been using photodynamic therapy as a lung cancer treatment of choice.
What is Lung Cancer - Incidence, Signs, Symptoms, Causation, Prognosis and Treatment
INTRODUCTION
Lung cancer may also be the most tragic cancer because in most cases, it might have been prevented, 87% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. Lung cancer has long been the most common cause of cancer death in men and since 1987 it has also become the most common cause of cancer death in women. Lung cancer is the second most commonly occurring form of cancer in most western countries and although the lung cancer incidence is less common in developing countries, the rapid increase in the popularity of smoking will see the number of lung cancer sufferers in those countries quickly catch up with the western world.
Lung cancers can arise in any part of the lung, and 90%-95% of cancers of the lung are thought to arise from the epithelial, or lining cells of the larger and smaller airways (bronchi and bronchioles); for this reason, lung cancers are sometimes called bronchogenic carcinomas or bronchogenic cancers.
The most common type of lung cancers are epidermoid carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma.
Most experts agree that lung cancer is attributable to inhalation of carcinogenic pollutants by a susceptible host. Who is most susceptible? Any smoker over the age of 40, especially if they began smoking before the age of 15, have smoked 20 or more for 20 years, or worked with or near asbestos. Two other factors also increase susceptibility: exposure to carcinogenic industrial and air pollutants (asbestos, uranium, arsenic, nickel, iron oxides, chromium, radio active dust, and coal dust.) and familial susceptibility.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Because early lung cancer usually produces no symptoms, the disease is often in an advanced stage when first diagnosed. Late stage signs are: with epidermoid and small cell carcinoma; smokers cough, hoarseness, wheezing, dyspnea, hemoptysis and chest pain. With adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma; fever, weakness, weight loss, anorexia and shoulder pain. In addition, hormone production which regulates various body functions may also be affected.
DIAGNOSIS
Firm diagnosis requires chest x rays, sputum cytology, CT scanning, bronchoscopy the examination of pleural fluid and biopsies. Other tests to detect metastasis include bone scans, bone marrow biopsy and CT scans of the brain and abdomen.
METASTASES
Lung cancer most often spreads to the liver, the adrenal glands, the bones, and the brain. Lung cancer that has metastasized to the bone causes bone pain, usually in the backbone (vertebrae), the thighbones, and the ribs. Lung cancer that spreads to the brain can cause difficulties with vision and weakness on one side of the body.
Lung cancer may grow into certain nerves in the neck, causing a droopy eyelid, small pupil, sunken eye, and reduced perspiration on one side of the face; together these symptoms are called Horner's syndrome (see Autonomic Nervous System Disorders: Horner's Syndrome). Lung cancer may grow directly into the esophagus, or it may grow near it and put pressure on it, leading to difficulty in swallowing. Lung cancer may also spread through the bloodstream to the liver, brain, adrenal glands, spinal cord, and bone.
TREATMENT
Treatment for lung cancer depends on the cancer's specific cell type, how far it has spread, and the patient's performance status. If investigations confirm lung cancer, CT scan and often positron emission tomography (PET) are used to determine whether the disease is localised and amenable to surgery or whether it has spread to the point where it cannot be cured surgically. Treatment is usually a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Surgery is usually the first option. Chemotherapy can be used as a first line treatment for lung cancer or as additional treatment after surgery. Radiation therapy can be directed at your lung cancer from outside your body (external beam radiation) or it can be put inside needles, seeds or catheters and placed inside your body near the cancer (brachytherapy). Radiation therapy can be used alone or along with other lung cancer treatments. Radiation therapy can also be used to lessen side effects of lung cancer.
Treatment may not be as effective for patients with bone or liver metastases from lung cancer, excessive weight loss, ongoing cigarette use, or pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease or emphysema. At some point, if you and your oncologist or primary care physician agree that treatment no longer is advisable, hospice care can provide comfort.
Lung cancer may also be the most tragic cancer because in most cases, it might have been prevented, 87% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. Lung cancer has long been the most common cause of cancer death in men and since 1987 it has also become the most common cause of cancer death in women. Lung cancer is the second most commonly occurring form of cancer in most western countries and although the lung cancer incidence is less common in developing countries, the rapid increase in the popularity of smoking will see the number of lung cancer sufferers in those countries quickly catch up with the western world.
Lung cancers can arise in any part of the lung, and 90%-95% of cancers of the lung are thought to arise from the epithelial, or lining cells of the larger and smaller airways (bronchi and bronchioles); for this reason, lung cancers are sometimes called bronchogenic carcinomas or bronchogenic cancers.
The most common type of lung cancers are epidermoid carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma.
Most experts agree that lung cancer is attributable to inhalation of carcinogenic pollutants by a susceptible host. Who is most susceptible? Any smoker over the age of 40, especially if they began smoking before the age of 15, have smoked 20 or more for 20 years, or worked with or near asbestos. Two other factors also increase susceptibility: exposure to carcinogenic industrial and air pollutants (asbestos, uranium, arsenic, nickel, iron oxides, chromium, radio active dust, and coal dust.) and familial susceptibility.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Because early lung cancer usually produces no symptoms, the disease is often in an advanced stage when first diagnosed. Late stage signs are: with epidermoid and small cell carcinoma; smokers cough, hoarseness, wheezing, dyspnea, hemoptysis and chest pain. With adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma; fever, weakness, weight loss, anorexia and shoulder pain. In addition, hormone production which regulates various body functions may also be affected.
DIAGNOSIS
Firm diagnosis requires chest x rays, sputum cytology, CT scanning, bronchoscopy the examination of pleural fluid and biopsies. Other tests to detect metastasis include bone scans, bone marrow biopsy and CT scans of the brain and abdomen.
METASTASES
Lung cancer most often spreads to the liver, the adrenal glands, the bones, and the brain. Lung cancer that has metastasized to the bone causes bone pain, usually in the backbone (vertebrae), the thighbones, and the ribs. Lung cancer that spreads to the brain can cause difficulties with vision and weakness on one side of the body.
Lung cancer may grow into certain nerves in the neck, causing a droopy eyelid, small pupil, sunken eye, and reduced perspiration on one side of the face; together these symptoms are called Horner's syndrome (see Autonomic Nervous System Disorders: Horner's Syndrome). Lung cancer may grow directly into the esophagus, or it may grow near it and put pressure on it, leading to difficulty in swallowing. Lung cancer may also spread through the bloodstream to the liver, brain, adrenal glands, spinal cord, and bone.
TREATMENT
Treatment for lung cancer depends on the cancer's specific cell type, how far it has spread, and the patient's performance status. If investigations confirm lung cancer, CT scan and often positron emission tomography (PET) are used to determine whether the disease is localised and amenable to surgery or whether it has spread to the point where it cannot be cured surgically. Treatment is usually a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Surgery is usually the first option. Chemotherapy can be used as a first line treatment for lung cancer or as additional treatment after surgery. Radiation therapy can be directed at your lung cancer from outside your body (external beam radiation) or it can be put inside needles, seeds or catheters and placed inside your body near the cancer (brachytherapy). Radiation therapy can be used alone or along with other lung cancer treatments. Radiation therapy can also be used to lessen side effects of lung cancer.
Treatment may not be as effective for patients with bone or liver metastases from lung cancer, excessive weight loss, ongoing cigarette use, or pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease or emphysema. At some point, if you and your oncologist or primary care physician agree that treatment no longer is advisable, hospice care can provide comfort.
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