User:Estehman/Treatment of cancer

Symptom control and palliative care
Although the control of the symptoms of cancer is not typically thought of as a treatment directed at the cancer, it is an important determinant of the quality of life of cancer patients, and plays an important role in the decision whether the patient is able to undergo other treatments. In general, doctors have the therapeutic skills to reduce pain including, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, hemorrhage and other common problems in cancer patients. The multidisciplinary specialty of palliative care has increased specifically in response to the symptom control needs for these groups of patients.

Pain medication, such as morphine, oxycodone, and antiemetics are drugs to suppress nausea and vomiting. These are very commonly used in patients with cancer-related symptoms. Improved antiemetics such as ondansetron and analogues, as well as aprepitant have made aggressive treatments much more feasible in cancer patients.

Cancer pain can be associated with continuing tissue damage due to the disease process, or the treatment (i.e. surgery, radiation, chemotherapy). There is always a role for environmental factors and affective disturbances in the genesis of pain behaviors, However these are not usually the predominant etiologic factors in patients with cancer pain. Some patients with severe pain associated with cancer are nearing the end of their lives, but in all cases, palliative therapies should be used to control the pain. Issues such as the social stigma of using opioids and health care consumption can be concerns and may need to be addressed for the person to feel comfortable taking the medications required to control his or her symptoms. The typical strategy for cancer pain management is to get the patient as comfortable as possible using the least amount of medications possible, even if that means using opioids, surgery, and physical measures.

Historically, doctors were reluctant to prescribe narcotics to terminal cancer patients due to addiction and respiratory function suppression. The palliative care movement, a more recent offshoot of the hospice movement, has engendered more widespread support for preemptive pain treatment for cancer patients. The World Health Organization also noted uncontrolled cancer pain as a worldwide problem and established a "ladder" as a guideline for how practitioners should treat pain in patients who have cancer

Cancer-related fatigue is a very common problem for cancer patients, and has only recently become important enough for oncologists to suggest treatment, even though it plays a significant role in many patients' quality of life.

Mental Struggles/Pain
Cancer patients undergo many obstacles and one of these includes mental strain. It is very common for cancer patients to become stressed, overwhelmed, uncertain, and even depressed. The use of chemo is a very harsh treatment causing the cells of the body to die. Physical effects like these do not only inflict pain but also cause patients to become mentally exhausted and want to give up. For a lot of reasons including these, hospitals offer many types of therapy and mental healing. Some of these include yoga, meditation, communication therapy, and spiritual ideas. All of these are meant to calm and relax the mind, or to give hope for the patients that may feel drained.

Article body
Hospice is a group that provides care at the home of a person that has an advanced illness with a likely prognosis of fewer than 6 months. As most cancer treatments involve significant unpleasant side effects, a patient with little realistic hope of a cure or prolonged life may choose to seek comfort care only. This choice of forgoing more radical therapies is an exchange for a prolonged period of normal living. This is an especially important aspect of care for those patients whose disease is not a good candidate for other forms of treatment. In these patients, the risks related to the chemotherapy may be greater than the chance of responding to the treatment, making further attempts to cure the disease impossible. Of note, patients in hospice can sometimes still get treatments such as radiation therapy if it is being used to treat symptoms, not as an attempt to cure cancer. During this phase of cancer, it is also important to note that mental health in patients can be greatly affected.

Bibliography[edit]

 * "Radiation Therapy for Brain Cancer | CTCA." CancerCenter.com. N.p., 1 Jan. 0001. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
 * "How Does Radiation Therapy Work?" American Cancer Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
 * "Radiation Therapy for Cancer." National Cancer Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.