Standard Methods Of Small Cell Treatment

Various treatments options are available for persons afflicted with small cell lung cancer. Besides the standard method of small cell treatment, various alternative treatments are undergoing clinical trials as well. A clinical trial for a method of treatment is a research-based study that seeks to make improvements in that treatment. Alternatively, it can be used to introduce a new line of treatment that is better than the current standard treatment.

If the clinical trial succeeds in bringing to light a much better new method of treatment, the new treatment then becomes the standard treatment.

Three standard methods of treating small cell lung cancer are used. These methods are chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. The details of these treatment methods are given below.

Chemotherapy: This treatment method uses drugs to stop cancer cells from dividing or by destroying them. The drugs are administered orally or intravenously. In both cases they enter the blood vessels, reach the cancer afflicted sites, and act on the cancer cells. This method is known as systemic chemotherapy.

When the drugs are placed in a specific region of the body, they act on cancer cells in that region. In the latter case, the method of treatment is known as regional chemotherapy. The chemotherapy method adopted for small cell treatment actually depends on the cancer stage.

Radiation therapy: This form of small cell cancer treatment uses high-energy x-rays or radiation of another type to destroy cancer cells. Two methods of radiation therapy are in vogue. One of these uses an external radiation source such as a machine to direct radiation towards the small cell lung cancer patient.

The internal radiation therapy method uses a radioactive substance securely enclosed in catheters or needles or wires or seeds. These devices are placed directly into the cancer area or near it. The type of radiation method selected depends on the cancer stage.

Surgery: This option of treatment for small cell cancer is used only when the small cell lung cancer spread is limited to the lung and nearby lymph nodes. As this type of lung cancer is often found in both lungs, only surgery does not help. Therefore, the surgeon removes a lymph node to check it for cancer cells.

A laser beam may be used to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy or radiation therapy generally follows surgery for small cell lung cancer. This is to kill any left over cancer cells. Such continuing therapy after cancer surgery is known as adjuvant therapy.

The prognosis for small cell lung cancer treated patients remains poor at best. While untreated small cell lung cancer patients hardly survive more than 6 to 17 weeks, the rate of survival of patients after small cell treatment is only about 5% after a 5-year period.

Lung Cancer