A must-read for lung cancer patients: How to choose the right treatment plan?

Among the many health threats, lung cancer often catches people off guard and affects the quality of life and future hopes of countless families.

1. Lung cancer: a health killer around us

When it comes to lung cancer, many people think of smoking first. Indeed, smoking is one of the main causes of lung cancer, but the causes of lung cancer are far more than that. Occupational exposure, ionizing radiation, bad eating habits, genetic factors, and lung disease history may all be the "culprits" of lung cancer. These factors are intertwined and together form a complex network of lung cancer.

In China, the incidence and mortality of lung cancer have remained high. The number of new lung cancer cases each year is staggering, and the number of people who die from lung cancer is even more shocking. What is even more worrying is that the incidence of lung cancer is showing a trend of getting younger, which undoubtedly rings the alarm bell for us: lung cancer is not a "patent" of the elderly, and everyone may face this health threat.

2. Screening and treatment of early lung cancer

Early detection of lung cancer is crucial to improving the cure rate. Fortunately, with the advancement of medical technology, we now have a variety of effective means of early lung cancer screening. Among them, low-dose spiral CT examination is widely recommended due to its high sensitivity and low radiation. Through this examination, we can detect traces of lung cancer when it is still in its early stages, thus buying patients precious treatment time.

Once diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer, patients need to seek medical attention and receive professional treatment in a timely manner. Surgery is one of the main treatments for early-stage lung cancer. By removing tumor tissue, a radical cure can be achieved. In addition, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted immunotherapy are also commonly used auxiliary treatments. They can be personalized according to the patient's specific situation to improve the treatment effect.

However, early detection is not easy. The early symptoms of lung cancer are often not obvious and can be easily ignored or misdiagnosed. Therefore, we need to strengthen the popularization of lung cancer and raise public awareness and vigilance about lung cancer. At the same time, regular lung cancer screening is essential for those at high risk.

3. Challenges and responses of advanced lung cancer

Despite our efforts to pursue early detection and treatment, some patients still miss the best treatment opportunity for various reasons and enter the advanced stage. At this time, the difficulty of lung cancer treatment will be greatly increased, but it does not mean that there is no cure.

In the treatment of advanced lung cancer, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapy are commonly used treatment methods. Chemotherapy kills cancer cells through drugs, but it also brings certain side effects; radiotherapy uses radiation to irradiate the tumor locally to achieve the purpose of shrinking the tumor; and targeted therapy precisely strikes at specific targets of lung cancer cells, with higher therapeutic effects and lower side effects.

With the deepening of medical research and the continuous advancement of technology, more and more new treatment methods and drugs have emerged. As an emerging treatment method, immunotherapy activates the patient's own immune system to attack cancer cells, bringing new hope for treatment for patients with advanced lung cancer. In addition, the development of gene sequencing and precision medicine also provides more possibilities for personalized treatment of lung cancer.

IV . Precision treatment: opening a new era in lung cancer treatment

Precision treatment has been a hot topic in the field of lung cancer treatment in recent years. Through genetic testing and other means, we can understand the patient's tumor type and gene mutation, so as to develop a personalized treatment plan. This precision treatment method can not only improve the treatment effect, but also reduce unnecessary side effects, so that patients can have a better quality of life.

At present, multiple targets for lung cancer have been discovered and applied in clinical treatment. These targets include EGFR, ALK, ROS1, RET, etc. Their discovery provides strong support for the precision treatment of lung cancer. Through the development and application of drugs targeting these targets, we can attack lung cancer cells more accurately.

In addition to drug therapy, precision medicine also includes the comprehensive application of multiple methods such as surgery and radiotherapy. Doctors will develop personalized treatment plans based on the patient's specific conditions and tumor characteristics to achieve the best treatment effect.

It is worth mentioning that precision treatment is not a one-time process. It requires the joint efforts and collaboration of doctors, patients and researchers. Doctors need to constantly update their knowledge and skills and master the latest treatment methods and means; patients need to actively cooperate with doctors' treatment suggestions and maintain a good mentality and living habits; researchers need to continue to conduct in-depth research on the pathogenesis and treatment of lung cancer to provide more scientific basis and support for precision treatment.

5. The future of lung cancer: finding hope amid challenges

Although lung cancer treatment faces many challenges, we also see more and more hope and possibilities. With the continuous advancement of medical technology and the emergence of new treatment methods, we have reason to believe that the treatment effect of lung cancer will be further improved in the future.

Expert introduction

Guo Hui

Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University

Professor, Chief Physician, Researcher, Doctoral Supervisor, Vice Dean

Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education

Member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)

Vice Chairman of the Youth Committee of the Chinese Medical Association Oncology Branch

Member of the Translational Medicine Group of the Oncology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association

Director of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO)

Young Director of China Anti-Cancer Association

Chairman-elect of the Translational Medicine Committee of the Shaanxi Anti-Cancer Association

Visiting scholar at MD Anderson Cancer Center

Won 1 National Science and Technology Progress Award and 2 Shaanxi Science and Technology Progress Awards

Recipient of Shaanxi Province Outstanding Youth Fund

Shaanxi Province Youth Science and Technology Model and Shaanxi Province Young and Middle-aged Science and Technology Innovation Leading Talents

Academic leader of the “Sanqin Team” in Shaanxi Province

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