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Monday, January 2, 2012

Treatments of Lung Cancer


There are many different treatments for lung cancer. Among many are surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy, cryosurgery, laser surgery, targeted therapy, and internal radiation.
Surgical resection is a surgery that is used to remove abnormal tissue such as cancer.
Chemotherapy is a treatment that has chemical substances, such as anti-cancer drugs, inserted into the patients via a vein, orally, or injected into a body cavity.
Radiation therapy kills cancer cells by using high levels of radiation.
Photodynamic therapy uses a photosensitizing agent that concentrates tumor cells. This is followed by exposure of the tumor to a special red laser light destroys as much of the tumor as possible.
Cryosurgery is a technique of using extreme cold to destroy tumors.
Laser Surgery is a type of surgery that uses lasers instead of blades to remove and destroy tumors.
Targeted therapy is using a drug or substance to block the growth and spread of cancer. These drugs or substances do this by interfering with molecules that are involved in tumor growth.
Internal radiation is radiation that is put inside the patient’s body to kill the cancer cells.
Some of these treatments can be used simultaneously in order to kill cancer cells and tumors.