Lung Cancer Treatment Options: Beating Lung Cancer

True to most cases, the treatment of cancer depends on a variety of factors. twice a lung cancer has been staged, the physician & patient can now discuss between themselves treatment options that will be necessary. Patient must be well-informed of the side effects & possible outcome of a certain procedure.

Everything should be cleared beforehand to avoid regret. Other factors that are taken into account also includes the patient’s general health, medical problems that may affect treatment (such as chemotherapy), & tumor characteristics.

The characteristics of a lung tumor helps doctors separate patients into four groups: people with low risk of cancer recurrence & people with high risk of cancer recurrence.

Surgical resection is completed with patients whose cancers have not yet spread beyond the lung. This is completed through the following options: Thoracotomy - the opening of the chest wall for surgical procedures - & median sternotomy - surgery performed by cutting through the breastbone.

Lately, other less invasive procedures are being performed for the removal of tumorous tissue. For example, the video-assisted thoracoscopy (VAT), otherwise known as video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). This procedure uses a video camera to help envision & operate on the lung within the chest cavity. The surgical incisions made during VAT are more minor than those needed for thoracotomy or sternotomy.

Other approaches include anterior limited thoractomy (ALT), thoractomy performed on the frontal chest using a small incision; anterioraxillary thoracotomy (AAT), thoracotomy performed on the frontal chest near the underarm; & posterolateral thoracotomy (PLT) thoracotomy performed on the back/side region of the trunk. ALT, in particular, is less invasive than standard thoractomy - that's, it involves less disturbance of the body by incisions or other intrusive measures. ALT may result in less surgical blood loss, less postoperative drainage, & less postoperative pain than standard thoracotomy.

However, physicians warn that VAT does not actually permit complete lung examination to identify & remove metastases that aren't detected by preoperative chest X-ray. VAT is appropriate for Stage 1 & Stage 2 cancers that need lobectomy (surgical removal of a lung lobule) with lymphadenectomy (removal of three or more lymph nodes) & for peripheral (outer edge) lung tumors that can be removed by wedge resection.