Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs and Cancer Diagnostic Techniques

Nearly 50 to 60 percent of people who are diagnosed for cancer are cured fully through Cancer breakthrough treatments. It is the time to remove the stigma and fear of cancer and treat it like any chronic disease.

There are better options for cancer treatment to a patient and with better diagnostic techniques, the treatment is comprehensive and effective.For instance, the PAP test for the detection of cervical cancer has been helpful in reducing the number of cancer deaths. The earlier you detect the cancer, the greater your chances of it being cured, or going into remission.

Lung, colon, breast and prostate cancers, essentially remain incurable by Standard chemotherapy’ once they have spread to other parts of the body. The good news, however, is that awareness has brought about an improvement in survival rates.

California Cancer Prevention Institute’s Nicolas Kerby says,” Nowadays patients come to see the doctor quickly. Even otherwise, the survival rates of patients with cancer in the advanced stages have improved significantly.”

Cancer in manageable now: The goal in cancer management is to manage the condition, to get the patient into remission and detect it early enough to treat. Just as a patient learns to manage diabetes or hypertension in the long run, oncologists are helping patients manage their cancer now.
Cancer breakthroughs of 2010: Today a Today a large number of drugs are available that are changing the way cancer is treated. For instance, till recently, the mortality rates for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia were very high, with most people succumbing to the disease within 3 years. With the availability of improved cancer therapies, patients can expect to live comfortably 5 to even 10 years after diagnosis.
Here are a few cancer therapy options that can be quite beneficial.

Image-Guided Radiation Therapy(IGRT): IGRT is a treatment technology that makes use of CT scans to create 3D image to find the tumor. Since a tumor is a changing target, the daily scans help to pinpoint the coordinates of cancer before the treatment. The benefit of Image Guided Radiation is that an oncologist can nip the cancer in the bud with high doses of radiations without affecting the surrounding areas. This lead to high cure rates in cancer.

Cyberknife: Like IGRT, the Cyberknife technology used as a cancer treatment therapy can use X-rays and real time image detectors to capture the location of the tumor and deliver radiation beams precisely to the location of the cancer, thus reducing the damage done to the surrounding areas With the ability to treat tumors viritualy anywhere in the body, the Cyberknife technology helps remove the need for radical surgery, making organ preservation a reality. Cyberknife is also a patient friendly technology. It is so good that patients can take the treatment and drive home after doing it.

PET/CT Scan: The well known PT/CET Scan is now more advanced in cancer detection and treatment. Making the best use of a CT and PET Scan, the CT/PET Scan can help the oncologist diagnose and identify cancers. This system is also used to find out if the cancer has been metastasized, so that targeted treatment is possible.

Smart Chemotherapy: Smart Chemotherapy drugs are paving the way for effective cancer treatments. These are either in the form of small molecules that can enter the cancer cells to destroy them from within or monoclonal antibodies that bind to target on the cancer cells in order to destroy them from the outside. One smart chemotherapy drug for cancer treatment is called ‘Gleevac’ whose use in the treatment of a particular type of leukemia and a rare form of stomach cancer has led to higher amount of patient survival rates.

CANCER Fear and Reality
an interesting story. A construction worker diagnosed with lung cancer was told he had less than a year to live. Assuming it to be his last summer, he made the best use of it. He went on to live for 7 years. The lesson? Cancer is unpredictable so don’t let statistics drive your fear.

Fear is also driven by news of cancer patients who die. This is because, until recently, survivors were reluctant to come out and talk about their condition. That is changing. While a positive attitude itself is unlikely to cure the disease, raising the spirit of conquering disease”, can help patients cope with the disease better. After all, it is not just how long you live that matters, but how well you live!

Cancer Treatment Costs:
There is also hope for those patients who may be overwhelmed by the cost of treatment. Various hospitals offer subsidized treatments. Also, some centers like HCG (Health Care Global), the biggest cancer network in South Asia, are working with drug companies to make free drugs available to patients.
Despite a mastectomy, Mary’s cancer was back. She had two children aged 2 and 4 years and would not accept defeat. She approached Kumar who treated her. Despite all odds, Mary went into remission and lived to see her grandchildren.

Better Prospects for Cancer Treatments
No two cancers are alike. Like each person, each cancer is unique and predictions about outcome j are meaningless. Ultimately, cancer is a chronic illness just like diabetes or hypertension and needs to be properly managed. While it is an unwanted disease, the prognosis for patients today is much more optimistic than in the past and the future will only get brighter.