The staging of cancer provides important information for the oncologist. The data gained helps determine how extensively the cancer has spread. Ultimately, this defines the stage of cancer and the standards of treatment available for that stage. Radiation provides a beacon of light for patients with the most advanced disease.
Definitions
Cancer occurs when a cell replicates over and over without stopping. Eventually the replication causes growth. As cancer grows, it forms its own blood supply and seeks to spread its cells throughout the body, usually via the blood stream. The book "Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment" describes four types of lung cancer that plague the body. Non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC for short, represents three of the four types. NSCLC makes up 70 percent of lung cancers and grows slowly. The fourth type of lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, or SCLC, makes up the other 30 percent of cases and grows quickly and aggressively.
Staging
When a patient gets a cancer diagnosis, the oncologist will evaluate the symptoms, approximate the age of the cancer and test for spread beyond the primary lesion or tumor. The results define the stage the patient's cancer. In the case of stage 4 lung cancer, the original lesion has spread beyond the boundaries of the lungs and has made its way to other organs. The National Cancer Institute states that the medical community labels the extent of the spread of cancer in the lungs as "limited," meaning it has spread out in the lungs but has not gone beyond the lung boundaries, or "extensive," meaning the cancer has traveled beyond the walls of the lungs.
Treatment
According to "Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment," NSCLC can be cured through surgery alone or when coupled with chemotherapy. The preferred treatment for SCLC is radiation. Generally, the cancer in a person with SCLC is present in multiple sites, which rules out surgical treatment. Though radiation cannot cure the cancer, it can lengthen survival time and ease the patient's associated pain.
Radiation
MedlinePlus reports about radiation therapy and its use for treatment of stage 4 lung cancer. Because it has spread to other organs, SCLC causes distressing symptoms. Radiation addresses these pains in what medicine refers to as "palliative therapy." The effects of the radiation treatments go a long way toward making the patient comfortable and usually continue as long as the patient shows discomfort. Palliative care does not cure the disease but it eases pain and provides the patient with a better quality of life. Another purpose of radiation therapy is for the prevention of further cancer spread. The brain, a common site for lung metastasis, responds well to prophylactic cranial irradiation, even before symptoms appear. This can halt the spread to the nervous system. Radiation can also protect the bones from involvement. Once cancer spreads to bone, it elevates a patient's pain.
Prognosis
While the person with SCLC stage 4 has little hope for a cure, the use of radiation represents the chance to prolong life, provide physical comfort and slow the spread of the cancer. Radiation remains the last bit of hope for a patient with advanced, un-remitting disease. It gives back some control to the person who has watched, helplessly, as cancer consumed his body and in a small way, radiation restores his dignity.
References
- "Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment"; Stephen J. McPhee, M.D. and Maxine A. Papadakis, M.D.; 2010
- National Cancer Institute: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment
- MedlinePlus: Lung cancer - small cell
