Oncology and Radioitherapy - Case Study Example

Download file to see previous pages The paper will be designed in the form of research, based on the specific case of Mrs. W, whose diagnosis is hypopharingeral carcinoma (an advanced third stage). The diagnosis has been proved histologically, the malignancy is of epithelial origin and needs combination of the external beam radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It is necessary to make a special accent on the ways radiotherapy is applied to this specific patient, its doses and consequences, in comparison with the radiotherapy methods used in other hospitals and similar departments.
At the third stage of the disease, at time when MRS. W finally decided to address the doctor, (unfortunately, most patients miss the first two stages of the disease, when their survival rates may be much higher in case they receive proper medication), the cancer has not yet spread outside the larynx, but her vocal cords could not move normally anymore, as well as there has been the threat that the cancer would also spread to the neighboring tissues. The situation was rather serious even from the medical point of view, thus there existed the following options for stopping the cancer spreading and increasing the survival chances of Mrs. W:
The patient has been explained, that radiotherapy is the use of x-rays, which kill carcinoma cells and their main aim is to shrink tumors. The hyper fractioned radiation therapy is one of the newest means of radiotherapy, which changes the way the thyroid gland works. In creating the sample plan for Mrs. W, the following steps should be undertaken:
Stage I. Creation of the detailed history of the patient and his physical examination. Special attention should be paid to the examination of the thyroid gland. The patient should be aware of possible negative effects in the form of hyperthyroidism.
Stage II. The following analysis should be taken and results put down into the patient's history for further designing of the radiotherapy program:
blood count;
tests of kidney function;
tests of liver function;
X-ray of the chest;
CT scanning of the primary site and the surrounding tissues;
Tests of the thyroid function.
As all the results appeared to be within the normal accepted range (the thyroid function was also accepted as normal with T3 displaying 78 ng/dl and T4 equaling to 10.8 ng/dl), the third step was to develop a plan of radiotherapy, taking into account the stage of the disease and possible side effects. According to the recent research, 'Recent randomized trials have revealed the effectiveness of hyper fractionated radiation therapy for treating head and neck carcinomas, especially in their local control. Because the hypopharynx is located near the larynx, increasing local control of hypopharyngeal carcinomas achieves greater laryngeal preservation, which is very important for patients' quality of life' (Tubiana 2000, p. 557). Thus, it has been decided to combine the radiotherapy with the chemotherapy to make the medication process more effective.
Stage III. The proposed dose of the radiothera ...Download file to see next pagesRead More