Treatment of Cancer - Essay Example

Treatment of cancer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Cancer disease has been a widespread epidemic across the world. According to Winer et al (2009) some cancers are resistant to treatment, while others cannot be detected until they reach an incurable state. The disease is characterized of an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. These cells are also referred to as malignant cells. Up to now, there is no report on a single treatment that can be applied to treat cancer. Rather, doctors apply a range of options to treat cancer patients. There are several factors that are considered by doctors when treating cancer patients. For instance, the type of cancer that the patient is suffering from, how far it has spread within the body, history, lifestyle and the age of the patients are important aspects which help in determining the best form of treatment to a cancer patient. Cancer treatment is also based on the progressive stage of the disease. Each stage is defined by the extent to which it has grown and whether the tumor has stretched from its original location. There are several methods of treating cancer but the four main ones are: surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy. Surgery is performed on cancer patients to remove tumors or other amounts of cancerous tissues from the body. However, there are patients whose cancer is not treatable as indicated by Bonner (2010) and as such palliative surgery is done with the aim of lessening discomfort. Chemotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that involves use of drugs to kill cancer cells by interfering with the process of cell division in the body. In this process, the body proteins or the DNA are destroyed. Immunotherapy treatment of cancer uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer. The immune system protects the body from infection through recognition of invading antigens leading to a counter production of antibodies. However, since cancer originates from cells that are within the body, it manages to avoid the immune system leading to its continual growth. Therefore, immunotherapy aims at harnessing the power of the immune system in order to be able to recognize and kill cancer cells. This paper greatly focuses on radiation therapy as a form of cancer treatment. Here, a patient is subjected to high energy radiation that kills cancer cells by damaging their DNA (Durante & Loeffler, 2009). The radiation used during this treatment is sourced from a machine that is located outside the body, injected into the bloodstream or by placing a radioactive material close to the location of the tumor cells in the body. Radiation therapy is also called ionization radiation because it forms electrically charged particles inside the cells where it passes through. Ions are created through removal of electrons from atoms and molecules which kill the cells or change the structure of genes thus avoiding any growth. Ionizing radiation is classified into two major types namely: photons and particle radiation (Nagasawa & Little, 1999). Photon radiation is the widely used form of radiation. It involves high energy photon beam that is characterized of x-rays and gamma rays which come from radioactive sources like cesium or cobalt. As these rays pass through the body to reach the cancer cells, they may affect adjacent cells thus it is important to take precaution when applying this form of cancer treatment. The researchers say that particle radiation involves the use of particle beams or electron beams that are produced by a linear accelerator. Since electrons are negatively charged, they normally have lowered amounts of energy which makes their penetration into the body shallow. This aspect qualifies this form of treatment to be applied in treating the skin or tumors that are close to the body surface. Proton beams form another type of particle radiation. In their state of being positively charged, proton beams indicate a higher rate of killing the target cells which are cancerous without necessarily damaging adjacent tissues along the way. Neutron beams are used to treat inoperable cancers especially the ones that cannot be cured through surgery, for example the ones located at the neck, head, prostate and salivary glands. Neutrons have no charge which denies them the ability to damage normal tissues in the body as they head to the target tissues. Carbon ion radiation is considered to be the most effective form of particle radiation due to its heavy weight as it contains protons, neutrons and electrons. This weight allows it to do more damage to the target cell as compared to other forms of radiation. Palma et al (2008) state that radiation therapy as a method for treating cancer is used with the intention of curing the disease possibly by eliminating a tumor or through avoidance of the disease from recurring or both. In this case, radiation therapy may be carried out on the patient solely, may be combined with chemotherapy, surgery or both. On other occasions radiation therapy is carried out on cancer patients with the aim limiting of controlling the cancer. This is achieved through limiting the growth or spread of the disease thus relieving off symptoms from the patient. This kind of treatment is administered to patients whose cancer is located at more sensitive body organs for example, the brain, spine and esophagus. Radiation therapy is also used as a way of easing symptoms by reducing the size of the cancer. In this case, the patient doesn’t experience much pain and also there are lowered pressure symptoms from the tumor. Oncologists need to be careful when dealing with cancer patients, this is because when treating them using radiations they use x-rays and gamma rays which can end up killing the DNA of both cancerous or non-cancerous cells. This calls for them to carefully plan for their radiation therapy and understand the process very well. They also need to establish the general health status of the patient, their type of cancer and what type of radiation they are to give them. These considerations will help the doctor to determine the total dose to be given to the patient and subsequently divide this dose to the appropriate fractions. According to Schulz-Ertner & Tsujii, (2007), radiation therapy process begins with scans that help in locating the tumor and imaging the area around the tumor which is done through ultra sound, CT scan or imaging throug magnetic resonance this is reffered as simulation. During this process the patient is required to maintain the same position when in the scan machine. The patient also requires protection of other body parts such as the head by providing them with masks. After imaging the location of the tumor the oncologist together with other staffs can draw the actual plan for the treatment as well as determine if the patient requires internal or external radiations.This analysis guides the techniques and process they are going to use for each patient. They then determine if the selected are has been exposed to radiations in the past and if it has reached the maximum number it can be exposed to radiations. If so another area mear the tumor can be used to to expose the radiations to the tumor. The area indicated for radiation must include both the area with the tumor and an extension to the area without the tumor so as to avoid any possible re-occurence of the tumor or disaapperance of the tumor due to the excitement triggered on the cells by the radiations. Below is an image of a patient being marked on the body for therapy after simulation. According to Townsend et al (2009) the radiations can now be subjected to the tumor either intermnally or externally depending on the distance between the normal and the cancerous tissues, size nd type of cancer and the location of the cancer. Internal radiation therapy will require the doctor to induce the source of the radiations in the patients body using the appropriate delivery devices such as catheters . The radioactive isotopes can either be placed in a cavity near the tumor or within the tumor tissue where they cause decay of cells thus treating the cancer and do not continue causing more radiations after the decay. They can be removed after the decay if they are temporal or be left in the body if they are permanent. If the patient is to get low dose then cells will receive them from the source for a continued period while for high dose a machine is attatched to the tubes and direct the isotopes to the tumor once or twice then the radiation are removed. External radiation can also be used , this involves a high energy x-ray machine being exposed to the place located for radiation after simulation. Hall, (2006) states that this machine releases beams that eventually kill the cells.It is a painless process for treating cancer though its is too dependent on the location, type and size of the cancer. It can be done through three-dimensional conformal therapy where a computer software is mapped on the tumor to expose it to high enegry killing the cells. Below is an image of a patient exposed to x-ray for treatment. As stated by Jioner & van der Kogel (2009) Cancer patients can experience various side effects after radiation therapy depending on the method used and the location of the cancer. These side effects can either be mild or severe while others can be permanent depending on how close the area of treatment is to the nerves or other sensitive tissues. Most patients feel tired and fatigue in their bodies during and after the treatment. This is due to the increased activity of the cells as they prepare to destroy the cells exposed to radiations and the patients body is using a lot of energy for the radioactivity. The fatigue may also be due to low number of red cells in the patients especially in cervical cancer. Patients can deal with this by engaging in exercises that the doctor approves and eating healthy. As Bolderston et al (2006) asserts, nausea is also a possible side effect especially when patients are treated in the abdomen or in the brain. This may result to vomiting it is advisable that patients experiencing nausea are encouraged to eat since nausea may make them to experience loss of appetite. There is also a possibility of scars developing in the area of treatment with some becoming permanent. The patients skin may also react to these therapy such that it can peel off, itch or become dry; it is necesary that patient seek advice from their doctor on the corrective measures to take such as the lotion to apply. Radiotherapy can also result in infertility if the radiations are expossed to the reproductive organs. In conclusion, cancer is the arbnormal growth of cells in the body which may result in mulfunctioning of body organs. there are various ways applied in the treatment of cancer which include chemotherapy, radoitherapy and immunotherapy they all aim at killing all cancerous cells.our major focus is on radiation therapy which treats cancer by exposing cells to radiation isotopes. It has varoius techniques that are applied in this method which can be do internallay or externally. References Bolderston, A, Lloyd, S, Wong, K, Holden, L, & Robb-Blenderman, L. 2006. 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Nagasawa, H, & Little, B 1999, Unexpected sensitivity to the induction of mutations by very low doses of alpha-particle radiation: evidence for a bystander effect. Radiation research, Vol.152 Iss.5 p.552-557. Palma, D, Vollans, E, James, K, Nakano, S, Moiseenko, V, Shaffer, R, & Otto, K, 2008, Volumetric modulated arc therapy for delivery of prostate radiotherapy: comparison with intensity-modulated radiotherapy and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics, Vol.72 Iss.4 p996-1001. Schulz-Ertner, D, & Tsujii, H. 2007. Particle radiation therapy using proton and heavier ion beams. Journal of clinical oncology, 25(8), 953-964. Townsend, A, Price, T, & Karapetis, C. 2009. Selective internal radiation therapy for liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 4. Winer, E, Gralow, J, Diller, L, Karlan, B, Loehrer, P, Pierce, L & Schilsky, L. 2009, Clinical cancer advances 2008: major research advances in cancer treatment, prevention, and screening—a report from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Journal of clinical oncology, Vol.27 Iss.5 p.812-826. Read More