With chemotherapy, asbestos lung cancer can be fought

Doctors use three major weapons—surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy—to treat cancer. There are other methods of fighting cancer which are used in combination with these three. In this article, we will focus on how chemotherapy works against asbestos lung cancer. With chemotherapy, asbestos lung cancer can be fought. Weitz & Luxenberg would like to show you how.

According to the American Cancer Society, “chemotherapy is the use of medicines or drugs to treat disease. Many times this treatment is just called “chemo.” Surgery and radiation therapy remove, kill, or damage cancer cells in a certain area, but chemo works throughout the whole body. Chemo can kill cancer cells that have... spread to parts of the body far away from the primary (original) tumor.” (http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/
TreatmentsandSideEffects/
TreatmentTypes/Chemotherapy/
UnderstandingChemotherapy
AGuideforPatientsandFamilies/
understanding-chemotherapy
-learning-what-is-it-how-it-works)

As hard as chemo works to slow the cancer, Weitz & Luxenberg works just as hard to get you compensation for your cancer due to asbestos-exposure.

Chemotherapy fights asbestos lung cancer, small cell and non-small cell

Most cases of lung cancer are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). About 15% of all lung cancer cases are small cell lung cancer. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001180/) Chemotherapy is used to fight both, but as small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is more aggressive than non-small cell lung cancer and “spreads quickly throughout the body, treatment must include cancer-killing drugs (chemotherapy) taken by mouth or injected into the body.” (PubMed, SCLC)

Because SCLC spreads so quickly, and surgeons do not like to make patients undergo surgery if it will not benefit the patients, it is rare that a SCLC patient will go through surgery. If surgery is done, chemotherapy or radiation will still be needed. (PubMed, SCLC)

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment includes surgery to removed the tumor and cancer cells, if it is diagnosed before it spreads to the lymph nodes and other systems cancer cells use to metastasize. (PubMed, NSCLC) When surgery is an option, chemotherapy can be used before the operation, or before radiation, to make the treatments more effective. Chemotherapy used in this way is called neoadjuvant therapy. (PubMed, NSCLC)

Chemotherapy is also used after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells that may be too small for surgeons to see. When chemotherapy is used after surgery, this is called adjuvant therapy. (PubMed, NSCLC).

Chemotherapy, asbestos lung cancer, and symptom relief

Depending on the type of cancer (small cell or non-small cell) and its stage (if and how far it has spread), chemo can be used to cure the cancer, keep it from spreading, kill cancer cells that have spread beyond the primary tumor, or relieve your asbestos lung cancer symptoms. (ACS)

If your cancer has progressed too far for surgery to be an option, chemotherapy alone, or chemotherapy in combination with radiation therapy, can be used to kill cancer cells, prevent the growth of new cancer cells, and relieve symptoms. As with radiation therapy, chemotherapy can be used simply to relieve symptoms, and focus more on your comfort than on a cure. (ACS)

Asbestos lung cancer chemotherapy costs can be covered by compensation

On the connection between asbestos exposure and lung cancer, the American Cancer Society reports: “Inhalation of asbestos fibers has been linked to an increased risk of lung cancer in many studies of asbestos-exposed workers. In general, the greater the exposure to asbestos, the higher the risk of lung cancer. Most cases of lung cancer in asbestos workers occur at least 15 years after initial exposure to asbestos.” (http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses
/OtherCarcinogens/IntheWorkplace/asbestos)

If you were exposed to asbestos, are now suffering from asbestos lung cancer, and are interested in exploring your legal options, call Weitz & Luxenberg or fill out a form today for a free legal consultation. Doctors have made exciting advances in chemotherapy and many other cancer treatments in the past few decades. Your only concern should be which treatment works best for you, not which treatment your insurance will cover.

Acknowledgments:

http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/TreatmentTypes/
Chemotherapy/UnderstandingChemotherapyAGuideforPatientsandFamilies
/understanding-chemotherapy-learning-what-is-it-how-it-works

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001180/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004462/

http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/IntheWorkplace/asbestos