| Lung cancer may be treated by a variety of | | | | the tumor and not healthy tissue. |
| therapies including surgery, but chemotherapy and | | | | Radiation treatment may also be used to reduce the |
| radiation treatments are used extensively to treat | | | | size of a tumor so that it becomes operable. |
| the disease whether surgery takes place or not. | | | | Radiation stops cells from undergoing division and |
| Chemotherapy | | | | forming new copies of the DNA which they contain. |
| Chemotherapy involves drug medication which is | | | | If a cell is reproducing quickly, it is likely to be |
| designed to kill fast growing cells in the body - cancer | | | | susceptible to radiation which will interfere in its |
| cells are fast growing and it is this uncontrolled | | | | development and as cancer cells are fast growing, |
| growth which causes tumors to develop. | | | | they are especially vulnerable to the treatment. |
| Unfortunately, the medications which are | | | | Unfortunately, cancer cells are not the only cells |
| administered are unable to differentiate between | | | | which are fast growing as we have already seen, and |
| cancer cells and other fast growing cells, such as the | | | | radiation therapy affects blood cells, hair and skin. |
| red blood cells and hair. As a consequence, there are | | | | Side effects include hair loss, redness of the skin, |
| side effects involved in receiving chemotherapy | | | | itching, loss of skin through the outer layers sloughing |
| which includes hair loss and other debilitating | | | | off, pain and heightened sensitivity, skin pigmentation |
| symptoms. | | | | and swelling (known as "edema"). |
| Many patients do not like the idea of receiving | | | | Both therapies may cause a loss in appetite, changes |
| chemotherapy because they have heard of the side | | | | in how your sense of taste and heart issues as well |
| effects usually associated with receiving the | | | | as nausea and vomiting. Patients undergoing these |
| treatment. Management of the side effects has | | | | treatments tend to become tired very easily while |
| come a long way and in many instances, patients do | | | | receiving treatment and there is an increased risk of |
| not experience them to as great an extent as they | | | | infection as the white blood cells are also adversely |
| originally anticipated. | | | | affected by the treatment. |
| Typically, chemotherapy will involve a combination of | | | | We have already noted that radiation treatment may |
| drugs which will target specific types of cancer cell - | | | | be used to shrink a tumor so it may be removed, |
| not all cancer cells are fast growing, and different | | | | but they also are used to tackle cancers which do |
| drugs will attack different types of cancer cell | | | | not lend themselves to surgery in the first instance. |
| depending on the stage it has reached. | | | | Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) is usually inoperable and |
| Radiotherapy or Radiation Treatment | | | | is treated by these joint therapies while operable lung |
| Radiation treatment uses ionizing radiation such as | | | | cancers use these treatments both before and after |
| gamma rays to kill cancer cells. The radiation can be | | | | surgery to ensure that any cells which have not been |
| targeted very precisely at the area where the cancer | | | | removed by surgery are killed off to prevent |
| has occurred within the body and in some instances | | | | recurrence of the condition. |
| is capable of being delivered so that it affects only | | | | |