Treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung | Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung?

Treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung

The therapy depends on the stage of the cancer. In many cases, lung cancer is unfortunately detected very late, so that a radical therapy has to be carried out. In some cases it is unfortunately also no longer possible to cure the cancer.

There are then only possibilities with various treatments to alleviate the symptoms and to extend the remaining life span. In order to have a chance of cure, a squamous cell carcinoma in the lung must be surgically removed. In addition, the operation is supplemented with radiation and chemotherapy.

Only in stage 1 this is not necessary. Depending on the stage, irradiation or chemotherapy is also carried out before the operation in order to reduce and weaken the tumor. Stage 4 as well as some cases in stage 3 cannot be operated on and therefore cannot be cured.

In these cases, chemotherapy is administered. This is supplemented by pain therapy and other treatments to improve the quality of life of the patient. You will find a detailed and groundbreaking description of the therapy adapted to the individual stages under Therapy of lung cancerIn immunotherapy, the body’s own immune system is stimulated or supported by drugs in order to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Immunotherapy is still relatively new to fight cancer. Various drugs have already been developed to treat lung cancer. However, drugs used in immunotherapy against lung cancer are very specific and can therefore not be used generally, but always only under certain conditions.

In the next few years, there will probably be further developments in this area, so that cancer can be fought even better with immunotherapy. Accompanying the therapy of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, you can also help to support the immune system yourself. How you can do this, you can find out under: How can you strengthen the immune system?

chemotherapy involves the administration of various drugs that attack and kill fast-dividing cells, especially cancer cells. In lung cancer, for example, a combination with the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin is used. The administration of chemotherapeutic drugs must be repeated several times over a certain period of time to achieve sufficient success.

The chemotherapies are mainly carried out after an operation in order to kill any remaining cancer cells and prevent the tumor from recurring. However, due to their strong effect on the body, chemotherapies often also lead to side effects. In some cases, chemotherapy may have to be interrupted or stopped because of this.

We have a main page for this as well. If you have to undergo chemotherapy because of lung cancer, it is advisable to consider the possible side effects beforehand. You can find these under: Side effects of chemotherapy for lung cancerRadiation after an operation, like chemotherapy, is intended to destroy remaining cancer cells and prevent recurrence.

For this purpose, areas in the chest where the tumor could have spread are irradiated. Radiation therapy must also be applied several times in order to be useful. However, they can also lead to side effects. These articles may also be of interest to you:

  • Treatment by radiotherapy
  • Behavior during radiotherapy