First step is to make you feel better...
Prevention and elimination of lung cancer
About 66% of lung cancers are preventable by following proper exercise, diet, attitude and avoidance of smoking. Similarly, for the elimination of invisible cancer cells in the body, after completion of all treatment, the same measures help. Read in detail about the tips, tricks and traps in a proper lifestyle to enhance the possibility of a cure in our survivorship blog program.
Cancer Therapy India has the best lung cancer hospital in India, having a team of lung cancer specialist in Bangalore with wide experience, we strive our best to help lung cancer patients by offering state of art treatment facilities and also help them face the challenges of living with cancer.
Diagnosis & Screening
Any persistent cough lasting over 2 to 3 weeks, not responding to routine treatment, a chest x-ray or CT scan is desirable to rule out LC or to find out any other chronic conditions. Lung cancer screening test with a milder type CT scan with a low dose is recommended in select heavy smokers and former smokers.
Lung cancer is suspected in a chest x-ray or CT scan. There are some features in these scans that indicate that further tests are required. The most crucial step is to get an adequate sample of tissue (biopsy) for two purposes. One is to establish the diagnosis of lung cancer under microscopic examination. The second purpose is to identify the type of lung cancer and subsequent treatment depends on the type of LC. Some types of lung cancer may have “mouths” called receptors through which specific medicines can be sent inside the cells to destroy it (targeted therapy). They may also have a particular “profile” which will help in deciding about the new type of treatment – immunotherapy.
The second important test is to check the entire body in one go with a PET-CT scan.
The other tests are blood test to check the general health and a test to check the functioning capacity of the lung
Treatment
Cancer Therapy India provides the best options for lung cancer treatment in Bangalore surgery, chemotherapy, a combination of surgery, and radiation therapy are some treatment methods used for treating lung cancer patients by our lung cancer specialist in Bangalore.
Surgery:
Surgery is the first choice when the scans show that the visible lung cancer, including the nearby lymph nodes, is removable. In some situations, three to four cycles of chemotherapy, with or without radiotherapy, given first, to prepare for the surgery.
Chemotherapy / Targeted therapy / Immunotherapy:
Over 80% of patients with lung cancer do present at an advanced stage. Advances in treatment like targeted therapy and immunotherapy have revolutionized the management of advanced-stage lung cancer. Each patient with advanced-stage lung cancer is subjected to genetic testing to identify the exact cancer forming pathway. Once this gateway to cancer development has been identified, oral medications which act as targets and close these gateways can be used to achieve tumour control. This targeted approach also ensures minimum side effects and damage to normal cells in the body. The newest weapon in the armamentarium against lung cancer is immunotherapy. Tumours are known to secrete chemicals which inactivate the immune system. With immunotherapy, we will be able to re-activate the immune system to fight effectively against the cancer cells and achieve disease control. Most patients needs molecular profiling for various types of lung cancer and depending upon the profiles (receptors or proteins expressed) various trageted therapy or immunotherapy options are discussed and offered.
Chemotherapy has an important place in the treatment of lung cancer, both in the early stage and in the advanced stage. Chemotherapy given after surgical resection of the tumour reduces the risk of disease recurrence. In stage III lung cancer, sometimes chemotherapy can be given initially to reduce the size of the tumour to make surgery more feasible, or in some cases, chemotherapy can be combined with radiation to achieve disease control. In certain types of lung cancer, even in the advanced stage, chemotherapy can be beneficial in reducing symptoms and achieving a good quality of life.
Radiotherapy:
Radiotherapy is given in early-stage disease when surgery is not possible (e.g. in when in poorer general health). It is also recommended when surgery is refused due to elderly age and in stage IV situation. CT scan or PETCT (preferably latter) scan must be done to plan the radiation treatment.
Either 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), preferably Intensity Modulated RadioTherpay (IMRT) or Image Guided RadioTherapy (IGRT) which help in reducing the side effects are the choices. It is delivered daily, except Saturday Sunday, over 6 to 8 weeks. It can also be given over a shorter period of 4 to 5 weeks in selected situations (side effects could be marginally higher with this schedule called hypo-fractionation).
Stereotactic Ablative Body radiotherapy (SABR) is a procedure where radiation is focussed to a point. This procedure is also known as Stereotactic Body RadioTherapy – SBRT. It is usually given in 3 to 5 daily sessions, over a week. Since SABR is elderly friendly therapy that can be used at any age, it is useful in very early lung cancer when not fit for surgery or when surgery is refused as a personal choice. We have a sophisticated TruebeamSTx with 6D couch technology for precision SABR approach.
SABR is also useful in treating growth that is spread to other organs and few in number. It is extremely useful in treating brain lesions when few in number or small-sized many lesions. However, when too many, the entire brain is treated with either 3DCRTor so-called hippocampal sparing IMRT/IGRT to reduce the possible radiation side-effect on memory function.
