What are the ten most common types of cancer and their treatment?
Cancer is the rapid and abnormal growth of cells invading other tissues of the body. It can have detrimental effects on a patient’s health. Therefore, specific treatment at the right moment will ease the discomfort associated with the symptoms.
Ten most common types of cancer
● Skin cancer
● Lung cancer
● Prostate cancer
● Breast cancer
● Colorectal cancer
● Bladder cancer
● Kidney cancer
● Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
● Thyroid cancer
● Endometrial cancer
Treatment for various cancer types
Skin cancer
The symptoms of non-melanoma skin cancer comprise basal and squamous cell carcinoma include swollen, scaly red patches and flat and pale skin areas looking like scars. Skin cancer is treated by freezing the skin cancers with liquid nitrogen. The dead tissue drops off when thawed. Another treatment for skin cancer is Excisional Surgery, where the physician removes the skin affected by cancer.
Breast cancer
The onset of breast cancer is recognised by checking for Lumps in the breast or surrounding area. The majority of the lumps are painless, but a few may be painful and tender. The early symptoms may include breast pain or nipple pain, nipple discharge, or retraction.
Lung cancer
A continuous cough worsens with time, involving coughing blood, bone pain, hoarseness, weight loss or breathing difficulty, lung infections, persistent headaches, and blood clots. Let’s look at few crucial lung cancer treatments:
1. Lobectomy and pneumonectomy: Lobectomy removes a portion of the lung. In contrast, pneumonectomy involves the removal of the whole lung.
2. Wedge resection: Removing a small section of the lung containing a tumour along with a small portion of the healthy tissue.
3. Segmental resection: It entails removing an enlarged area of the lung but not the entire lobe.
Prostate cancer
Issues while urinating, leaking, urge to urinate, blood in urine, pain or pressure in the rectum, pain in your lower back, thigh, and back area are all symptoms of prostate cancer. Radical prostatectomy is a necessary and popular prostate cancer treatment among the medical community. It involves surgical removal of the prostate and seminal vesicles.
Kidney cancer
The symptoms of kidney cancer include:
● Hematuria (blood in the urine).
● A lump in the lower back.
● A decreased appetite.
● Weight loss.
● Persistent fever.
The treatment for such a type of cancer can involve therapies Nephrectomy. It refers to the removal of the entire kidney that is affected. In contrast, a partial nephrectomy is limited to the removal of the affected kidney area.
Thyroid cancer
Anterior neck region swelling, radiating pain from the neck to your ears, difficulty swallowing or breathing, persistent cough, voice hoarseness are all symptoms of thyroid cancer. The treatment for this type of cancer include:
1. Thyroid lobectomy: Surgical removal of half of the thyroid.
2. Lymph node dissection: Removal of lymph nodes in the neck along with thyroid.
Common cancer treatments
Best cancer treatment in India is available in hospitals like Max Hospital, HCG, Tata Memorial Hospital, Apollo Specialty Hospital, The Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, among others.
Here are a few common cancer treatments:
● Radiation therapy: It uses extensive energy X-rays to treat the body areas affected by cancer. The treatment is preferred as it causes minimal pain.
● Chemotherapy: This therapy involves the usage of chemicals or drugs to treat cancerous cells. Chemotherapy reduces cancer cell growth and prevents them from spreading across different parts of the body. The radiation helps retract the tumour before surgery and aids in treating any remaining cancer cells after surgery.
● Immunotherapy: This therapy uses a patient’s immune system for fighting cancer.
● Targeted therapy: It is a targeted treatment of the cancer cells that abnormally grow, divide and spread.
● Hormone therapy: It is a type of cancer treatment stopping cancer cell growth that uses hormones for growing and spreading rapidly.
In a few top hospitals in India, patients can also receive treatment via laparoscopic, robotic-assisted surgery, a minimally invasive technique. In addition, cancer treatment can cause psychological stress and lead to fatigue and other similar symptoms in a patient. As a result, post-operative care is also crucial for cancer patients.