NOVEMBER is celebrated as Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and spreading awareness of the disease is the mission of its advocates.
To raise public awareness on lung cancer, the Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) Oncology team held a forum on November 24 at the Philam Life Tower in Makati City. Headlining the forum were Dr. Conrado Lorenzo, head of patient services at Makati Medical Center and the doctor of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago; and Dr. Gerard Cornelio, a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital and doctor of veteran actor Tirso Cruz III.
The number of lung-cancer cases worldwide is becoming alarming. The World Health Organization listed the number of lung-cancer incidents at 1.8 million cases in 2012.
Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that start off in one of the lungs or both. The main cause of lung cancer is nicotine from cigarette, which goes directly to the lungs. Both genders are equally prone to lung cancer. But people who smoke cigarettes are 15 to 30 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
However, it doesn’t mean that nonsmokers are safe from it. There are cases of nonsmokers diagnosed with lung cancer, like Mike Espina, a lung-cancer survivor.
Espina does not smoke. He jogs every morning and lives a healthy lifestyle, yet he was still diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014. His lung cancer was caused by his exposure to petroleum from his work in Kuwait. Lorenzo said lung cancer is caused not only by cigarette smoking; it can also be caused by pollution. These include secondhand or third-hand smoke, and when you are exposed to open burning, or pagsisiga in Filipino, or prolonged exposure to gas fumes when cooking or when on the street a lot.
The symptoms of lung cancer can be mistaken as tuberculosis or a simple sickness due to overfatigue.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease caused by mycobacteria, which attack the lungs and, if not prevented early, can also attack other parts of the body, like kidney, spine and brain. It is a transmittable disease. Lung cancer is produced by an abnormal cell that can turn into a tumor and prevent the lungs from doing its function.
If a person suffers symptoms, like persistent cough, chest pain when coughing or laughing, shortness of breath, hoarseness, weight loss and loss of appetite, feeling weak or tired easily and coughing up blood or rust-colored sputum (spit or phlegm), immediate consultation with a doctor should be done. Avoid self-medication. Doctors underwent years of study and are in a position to tell you what is wrong with your body.
“Oncologist, radiologist, pulmonologist and other doctors always work as a team,” Cornelio said. “Do not be afraid to ask. If ever you were diagnosed with lung cancer, always ask for a second opinion or even a third opinion.”
It is hoped that discoveries will help cure lung cancer. Commonly, it is chemotherapy that can cure cancer, because it kills the bad cells in the human body, but it can also cause death because it kills the good cells, as well.
But instead of chemotheraphy, Immuno-oncology is a new way to fight lung cancer. Lorenzo said after 30 years of research, Immuno-oncology is now evident of helping cure lung cancer. “It uses God-given parts to fight the tumor,” Lorenzo said.
Immuno-oncology allows the body to do what it does without being exposed to radiation of any medical technology. According to the Oxford Journals Volume 23, increased understanding of the fundamentals of cellular and molecular tumor immunology has identified many ways in which the immune system can be augmented to treat cancer, including priming/boosting of the immune system, T-cell modulation, reducing immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment and enhancing adaptive immunity. Oncologists have proven that there are higher rates of survival in this treatment, and this is a kinder treatment compared to chemotheraphy. But survival depends on the stage when the tumor was discovered. Special to the BusinessMirror