World Lung Cancer Day: How We Are Advancing Treatments
One date of note for the medical profession in general and oncology in particular is August 1st, when World Lung Cancer Day takes place each year.
This occasion helps to raise awareness of the disease, not just in terms of the risk factors for developing it, but also the symptoms that can indicate a problem and the associated importance of early detection.
Here at Amethyst Healthcare, the importance of all this is increased by our role in treating lung cancer, which is not just an area of expertise, but a focus of some of our most notable recent innovations, with our Austrian arm being especially prominent in the latter area.
Risks And Prevalence Of Lung Cancer
According to the World Health Organisation, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among both men and women worldwide.
It is eminently preventable, as 85 per cent of cases are caused by smoking, but the key to raising survival rates is early diagnosis, as it is common for the disease only to be identified at a late stage when treatment options are more limited.
The fact that most cases are related to smoking does mean those who smoke or have done so in the past should be aware of symptoms indicating the possibility of cancer and get checked out. Equally, the fact is that a minority of cases have other causes, such as air pollution.
Experts have also noted that non-smokers usually only get one type of lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, which is a type of non-small cell lung cancer. Smokers, by contrast, can catch different forms of lung cancer.
Spotting The Symptoms
Raising awareness of lung cancer is not just about warning of the dangers of smoking, which are well known and have contributed to a steep decline in smoking rates across the world. It is also about spotting the symptoms so that a diagnosis can be made as early as possible, maximising the possibility of successful treatment.
Among the common early symptoms are chest pain, a chronic cough, and breathing issues. Unplanned weight loss may also occur. More advanced symptoms will include wheezing and coughing up blood. Anyone suffering such symptoms should see their doctor as soon as possible.
How We Treat Lung Cancer
When it comes to treating lung cancer, radiotherapy is a powerful and commonly used method of treatment. There are different ways of administering radiotherapy and our approach involves using personalised and tailored treatments for each patient, rejecting a one-size-fits-all approach with individualised care to seek the best possible outcome.
In the case of lung cancer, we use non-invasive treatment, which involves the delivery of radiation by means of intense beams, usually with the patient lying in a linear accelerator.
The modern equipment we use ensures that the maximum amount of radiation is delivered to the cancerous area to destroy cancer cells, while minimising exposure for surrounding tissue.
A New Innovation In Austria
While our treatments are very modern and powerful, we are always seeking methods of delivering even more effective and personalised treatments, bringing the latest research and innovations to bear. When it comes to lung cancer, Amethyst Austria is leading the way with the newly introduced TTFields therapy by Novocure.
This CE-marked treatment, which is aimed at tackling metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, uses electric fields to target cancer cells. This is based on the simple fact that electric fields have different effects on the human body depending on the frequency. This has already enabled the development of various medical devices and innovations, such as pacemakers.
In this instance, the treatment takes advantage of the fact that cancer cells have polar cellular components, which means they can be affected by electrical fields at certain frequencies, between 100 and 500 kHz.
At this range, the electrical waves can breach membrane walls in cancer cells and disrupt the operations of those cells, killing them in the process. The good news is that it can do this without harming healthy tissue, leading to effective treatment without causing significant harm to the surrounding area.
In the case of metastatic lung cancer, this means attacking cancer cells in the lungs and elsewhere, including other important organs, without causing a lot of damage to the organs themselves.
This innovation is a demonstration of the kind of cutting-edge technology and medical science we are bringing to bear at our different cancer centres. Each step forward enables us to offer more powerful treatments, widens the range of treatment options and therefore enables us to provide a more tailored approach to the needs of every patient.
Learn more about our advanced radiotherapy treatments for lung cancer on the Amethyst Group website.
