The Various Non Small Cell Treatment Methods

Various different treatment methods are used to treat patients of non-small cell lung cancer. Both standard treatment methods and alternative treatments tested through clinical trials are used in practice. Six standard methods of non small cell treatment are used. They include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, laser therapy, photodynamic therapy, and watchful waiting.

Their details are described below.

Surgery: Four different surgery techniques are used to treat patients of non-small cell lung cancer. These include wedge resection, lobectomy, pneumonectomy, and sleeve resection. Wedge resection is used for tumor removal and some surrounding tissue. The surgery technique is known as segmental resection when a little larger amount of tissue is removed.

A lobectomy is used to remove a complete section of the lung. A pneumonectomy removes a complete lung. A sleeve resection removes a bronchus partially.

Radiation therapy: It uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to destroy cancer cells or stop their growth. External machine based radiation sources are used to direct a radiation beam on to the non-small cell lung cancer cells in a patient. In contrast internal radiation therapy uses a radioactive source that is sealed in needles, wires, seeds, or catheters. The device is then placed into the cancer cells area or near it.

Radiosurgery is used to deliver radiation directly on to a tumor without affecting the surrounding healthy tissue. It is a non-surgical method and is used in patients in whom surgery is contraindicated. The type of radiation therapy used depends on the type and stage of the cancer.

Chemotherapy: This method uses drugs to either kill cancer cells or stop their division. Both orally administered and intravenously administered drug release into the bloodstream is used. The drug reaches the cancer cell sites and acts on the cancer cells.

Systemic chemotherapy is a method through which the anti-cancer drug reaches the cancer cell sites spread all over the body. On the other hand in regional chemotherapy, the anti-cancer drug is placed in a specific region of the body. The drug then acts on the cancer cells in that region. The actual method used depends on the type and stage of cancer.

Laser therapy: This method is characterized by the use of a laser beam to destroy cancer cells.

Photodynamic therapy: This method uses the combination of a laser beam and a drug to destroy cancer cells. The drug (injected through a vein in the body) used does not become active until it is exposed to the laser beam. The laser beam is carried within fibreoptic tubes to the cancer cell sites. There, the activated drug destroys cancer cells. The best advantage of photodynamic therapy is that healthy tissue remains intact. This method is used for tumors just below the skin or in the membrane covering over organs.

Watchful waiting: This non small cell treatment method consists monitoring the appearance of or change in symptoms of a patient. Until symptoms appear/change, no treatment is administered.

Lung Cancer