Targeted immunotherapies yielded better results agains lung tumors.
Lung cancer, better known as pulmonary carcinoma, is a malign tumor that attaches itself to the lung cells. Approximately 90 percent of lung cancers are due to smoking or exposing to tobacco product. But hope is no not always lost, because new developments in lung cancer therapy have proven their efficiency on the battlefield.
A fellow oncologist, by the name of Doctor Nathan Pennell said that, every day, new therapies and drugs are being developed in order to treat lung cancer and other forms of cancer. The same oncologists stated that nowadays a diagnostic like lung cancer is not considered to be a death sentence. New immunotherapies are employed in order to extend the patient’s life. Also each therapy is personalized, meaning that the doctor must take into account the patient’s genetical background before recommending a course of treatment.
The same doctor explained that the new immunotherapies are more targeted. Moreover, is seems that the toxicity of cancer drugs has diminished in the last couple of years. Pennell said that, when dealing with cancer, we have to be inventive and employ a little deceit. Something on the line of fighting fire with fire. He explained that cancer is usually a runaway. Buried deep within the cells, he has a ways of bypassing normal immune responses. Thus the antibodies don’t acknowledge its existence and doesn’t fight against it. Pennell also added that immunotherapy showed better results than plain old chemotherapy.
So, what are the signs and symptoms of lung cancer? The most common symptoms associated with this disease are: coughing, shortness of breath, bloody sputa and wheezing. Other signs may include unusual weight loss, fatigue, clubbing. Once the tumor has spread, patients begin to exhibit severe symptoms such as chest pain, bone pains and increasing difficulty in swallowing and breathing.
The leading cause of developing lung cancer is smoking. According to lab measurement, tobacco smoke contains almost 73 compounds that can produce cancer. Although smoking seems to account for most lung cancer deaths, it seems that passive smoking is much more dangerous. Scientists have demonstrated that the risk of developing lung cancer due to passive smoking is much greater than that of actual smoking.
The most common forms of treating lung cancer are surgical interventions, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, all of these treatments depend on the specificity of each tumor. For example, if a tumor has a wide spread in the chest cavity, surgical approaches are not efficient. Same goes for radiotherapy and chemo.
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