Added: 02/09/2006 |
Stomach Cancer Treatment - Methods and Side EffectsThere are some methods of the stomach cancer diagnosis. The main diagnosis method is X-ray research. The X-ray research allows making a diagnosis to seventy five per cent people who suffer from the stomach disease.
Another method is the gastroscopy. This method allows making the diagnosis higher to ninety five per cent. This method gives the possibility to see the tumor in the stomach, even the tumor which has the size in one millimeter.
After diagnosis it is time to speak about the stomach cancer treatment. The choice of the stomach cancer treatment depends on some factors. They are the tumor occurrence and the tumor stage. Other factors are the patient age, his general condition and his requests.
The stomach cancer treatment methods are the operation, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Often the best approach to the treatment may be the usage of two or more methods. The main aim of the treatment is to treat the cancer fully. In the case when the full recovery is impossible, the therapy is used for making the symptoms easier, for example pain or bleeding.
The main method, which can treat from the stomach cancer is only the operation. Unfortunately, the surgical operation is possible only for some patients. In dependence on the kind of the stomach cancer and the disease stage the operation can be made with tumor cutting out with the stomach part.
If it is possible the surgeon leaves its ?healthy? part. If there are stages I, II or III usually the tumor is cut out. If when the cancer to the treatment moment can?t be cut out completely, the operation can prevent bleeding and make the symptoms easier.
Chemotherapy is one more kind of the stomach cancer treatment. The progress of this method is rather small. It means usage of medicines for killing of the tumor cells. Usually this method is used till or after the operation. This method helps many people to live further and sometimes prolong the life. Sometimes this method is used as the main one. Often this method is used together with the radiotherapy.
The medicines of the chemotherapy kill not only the tumor cells, they can also harm normal cells. And this is the reason of the stomach cancer treatment side effects. These side effects depend on the medicine type, their doses and the treatment duration. During the chemotherapy the following side effects can appear: high tiredness, vomiting, the appetite fall, baldness, bleeding. But most side effects disappear after the treatment finish. There are different methods for fight with the side effects of the chemotherapy.
Another stomach cancer treatment is the radiotherapy. This therapy is used after operation to kill small tumors, which it is impossible to notice or to cut out during the operation.
The radiotherapy can be used with the aim to make the symptoms easier such as a pain and bleeding. The radiotherapy is a very difficult procedure, so it is important to do it at hospitals with big experience of treating such sick people.
There are side-effects which can appear during the radiotherapy. They are vomiting, high tiredness. These symptoms usually disappear after the treatment. Thus, radiotherapy can redouble the side-effects of the chemotherapy.
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