Lung Cancer Treatment: Stunning Progress Achieved over the Last Decade

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, making up almost 25% of cancer deaths. It comes second in the number of patients, including both men and women.

Lung cancer and its common causes

Cancer happens when cells of the body start multiplying uncontrollably. Lung cancer is of two types: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). More than 80% of all lung cancer cases belong to non-small lung cancer types. Both types require different treatments. It mainly occurs in people 65 yrs or older.

Lung cancer treatment

About a decade ago, there weren’t enough advanced methods available for lung cancer treatment. But there has been significant progress made in the last decade. Lung cancer treatment progress in India 2019-2020 has led to some breakthrough methods for lung cancer treatment: 

• Surgery: It involves the removal of lung cancer and a margin of healthy tissue. While you are having surgery, the surgeon may even cut lymph nodes from the chest to screen for cancer cells.
• Radiation therapy: It utilizes high-energy beams from sources such as x-rays and protons to kill cancer cells. During radiation therapy, you sit on a table while the arm works above you, focusing the radiation on the cancerous cells.
• Chemotherapy: It uses medications to destroy cancer cells. One or more chemotherapy medications may be administered through a vein in your arm (intravenous) or taken orally. A mixture of drugs is usually prescribed through a series of therapies over weeks or months, with breaks so that you can heal.
• Stereotactic body radiotherapy: Also known as radiosurgery, it is an intensive radiation treatment that focuses on multiple radiation rays from a wide variety of cancer angles. Stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment is usually completed with one or a few operations.
• Targeted drug therapy: It works on particular defects of cancer cells. Targeted drug therapies work on cancer cells and cause them to die by blocking their abnormalities.
• Immunotherapy: It uses the immune system to combat cancer. Your body’s immune system does not target cancer because cancer cells manufacture proteins that help them escape from the immune system’s cells. Immunotherapy disrupts this process.
• Palliative care: It is a specialty in medicine that includes working with a doctor to reduce cancer signs and symptoms.

Improvements in treatment methods over the last decade

Lung cancer treatment statistics in India 2020 indicate a fall in cancer deaths from 2010 to 2020. Advancements in lung cancer treatment are responsible for a significant proportion of recent reductions in lung cancer mortality. Over the last decade, older therapies such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy for lung cancer have improved. Many advanced treatments for cancer are now available.

In 2010, only 20% of lung cancer patients were predicted to survive 5 years after their initial diagnosis. This was primarily due to the disease’s late discovery. In 2016, the 5-year OS average hit 23.5% and was projected to continue increasing as a growing number of patients hit the 5-year mark after the advent of new therapies.

Lung cancer treatment update shows that oncologists have gradually switched to video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in the 2010s to treat early-stage lung cancer. At the end of 2019, a British study (VIOLET) compared health results after VATS and open-label surgery in early-stage illness patients. The VIOLET authors observed slightly less in-hospital complications in VATS lobectomy patients (32.8%) than those undergoing open lobectomy (44.3%). They also had a shorter period of stay (4 vs. 5 days).

Lung Cancer treatment in Delhi NCR

Dr. Manish Singhal, an oncologist in Noida, is the best lung cancer doctor in Delhi NCR. He was trained and educated in AIIMS. Cancer Consult India, led by him, is a boon for people who have lung cancer. It provides the best treatment for lung cancer in Delhi NCR. It has world-class infrastructure, advanced technologies, and well-trained doctors and technicians, focusing on patients’ comfort. Your search for the best cancer specialist in Delhi ends here.

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