Lung Cancer Treatment Cost In India
What is Lung Cancer?
Lung cancer begins from the lungs and may spread to lymph nodes or other organs of the body, such as to the brain. Diagnosing the lung cancer at an early stage would be helpful in the better treatment and speedy recovery. There are many ways to diagnose and treat cancer. It may vary according to the intensity of cancer and the location where it has spread.
What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
In the early stages, lung cancer usually has no symptoms. Signs and symptoms of lung cancer is mostly seen when the disease has reached an advanced stage .The symptoms and signs include:
- Cough that does not goes away.
- Change in a cough-pay attention to any chronic cough or blood or more mucus than usual.
- Breathing changes-shortness of breath during work or rest.
- Pain in the chest area which can be sharp dull and constant or comes and goes.
- Pain can also go to the shoulders or back.
- Hoarse voice which persists for more than two weeks.
- Wheezing or whistling sound when you breathe.
- Drop in weight.
- Bone pain –indicator of metastasis. Worsens at night while resting at the back.
Risk Factors of Lung Cancer?
- Air Pollution:- Air pollution can be called a complex mixture of gases and aerosols, the most concerned pollutant is particulate matter (which contains dust, smog, smoke, and soot) which are officially declared as carcinogenic substance by the WHO which are considered as the main agent for Lung Cancer due to air pollution.
- Smoking:- When you inhale cigarette smoke they cause a change in the lung tissue as they already are carcinogenic in nature. At first, the body is able to repair the damage. But after repeated exposure, normal cells surrounding your lungs are damaged increasingly and after some time there are abnormal changes in the cells developing cancer.
- Asbestos:- When asbestos fibers in the air are inhaled, they stick to mucus in the throat, trachea (windpipe), or bronchi (large breathing tubes of the lungs) where some fibers reach the ends of the small airways in the lungs or penetrate into the outer lining of the lung and chest wall (known as the pleura). These fibers can irritate the cells in the lung or pleura and eventually cause lung cancer.
- Genetics:- A family where any of the member( may it be your parent, sibling or child) has suffered from Lung Cancer increase the risk of the disease.
Tests to diagnose lung cancer?
If there’s reason to think that you may have lung cancer, your doctor can order a number of tests to look for cancerous cells and to rule out other conditions.
Tests may include:
- Imaging tests. An X-ray image of your lungs may reveal an abnormal mass or nodule. A CT scan can reveal small lesions in your lungs that might not be detected on an X-ray.
- Sputum cytology. If you have a cough and are producing sputum, looking at the sputum under the microscope can sometimes reveal the presence of lung cancer cells.
- Tissue sample (biopsy). A sample of abnormal cells may be removed in a procedure called a
- biopsy.Your doctor can perform a biopsy in a number of ways, including.
bronchoscopy:– in which your doctor examines abnormal areas of your lungs using a lighted tube that’s passed down your throat and into your lungs
Mediastinoscopy:- in which an incision is made at the base of your neck and surgical tools are inserted behind your breastbone to take tissue samples from lymph nodes; and needle biopsy, in which your doctor uses X-ray or CT images to guide a needle through your chest wall and into the lung tissue to collect suspicious cells.
A biopsy sample may also be taken from lymph nodes or other areas where cancer has spread, such as your liver.
Careful analysis of your cancer cells in a lab will reveal what type of lung cancer you have. Results of sophisticated testing can tell your doctor the specific characteristics of your cells that can help determine your prognosis and guide your treatment.
Tests to determine the extent of the cancer
- Once your lung cancer has been diagnosed, your doctor will work to determine the extent (stage) of your cancer. Your cancer’s stage helps you and your doctor decide what treatment is most appropriate.
- Staging tests may include imaging procedures that allow your doctor to look for evidence that cancer has spread beyond your lungs. These tests include CT, MRI, positron emission tomography (PET) and bone scans. Not every test is appropriate for every person, so talk with your doctor about which procedures are right for you.
- The stages of lung cancer are indicated by Roman numerals that range from 0 to IV, with the lowest stages indicating cancer that is limited to the lung. By stage IV, the cancer is considered advanced and has spread to other areas of the body.
Stages for small cell lung cancer
If you have early stage small cell lung cancer you are most likely to have chemotherapy and then radiotherapy to the lung. People who are fairly fit may have chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the same time (chemoradiation). It is quite common for this type of cancer to spread to the brain. So doctors often recommend radiotherapy to the brain for people whose lung cancer shrinks with chemotherapy treatment. You usually have radiotherapy to the brain at the end of the chemotherapy treatment. It aims to try to kill any cancer cells that may have already spread to the brain but are too small to show up on scans. Doctors call this prophylactic cranial irradiation or PCI.
Stage 1
Stage 1 non small cell lung cancer is uncommon. You normally have surgery to remove part of the lung (a lobectomy) or all of the lung (a pneumonectomy). If you can’t have an operation for other health reasons, your doctor may suggest targeted radiotherapy instead to try to cure the cancer. Another option for small tumours if you cannot have surgery is Radiotherapy and Cyber knife therapy.
Stage 2
For stage 2 non small cell lung cancer, you may be offered surgery. Depending on the position of the tumour, your surgeon may remove part of the lung or all of the lung. If the cancer is completely removed, then will done the Pet Ct scan to check how muvh Cancer is remening. after that your specialist may suggest chemotherapy. The chemotherapy aims to lower the risk of the cancer coming back. Doctors call this adjuvant chemotherapy. It is important that your doctor talks to you beforehand about the benefits and side effects of chemotherapy. If the surgeon could not remove all of the tumour you may have radiotherapy afterwards.
If you can’t have surgery due to other health concerns, your doctor may offer radiotherapy or combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This treatment aims to try to get rid of the cancer completely.
Stage 3
For stage 3 non small cell lung cancer you may be able to have surgery, depending on where the cancer is in the lung. You may need to have the whole lung removed (a pneumonectomy). If the surgeon completely removes the cancer, you may then have chemotherapy to try to lower the risk of the cancer coming back. If the surgeon finds cancer cells in the lymph nodes during the surgery they are likely to advise you to have chemotherapy and possibly radiotherapy after the operation.
If you can’t have surgery due to other health concerns, your doctor may offer radiotherapy or combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy (chemoradiation). This treatment aims to try to get rid of the cancer completely.
If your scans showed that there are cancer cells in the middle area of the chest, your doctor may suggest radiotherapy instead of surgery. The cancer may be too close to your heart to operate safely. Or your doctor may advise that you have a course of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. Some people who are fairly fit and have small tumors have radiotherapy at the same time as chemotherapy.
If scans show signs of cancer in the lymph nodes on the opposite side of your chest, surgery is not possible. But you may have a course of chemotherapy. After the chemotherapy you might need further treatment with radiotherapy. If you are fairly fit you may have radiotherapy at the same time as chemotherapy.
Stage 4
Treatment for stage 4 non small cell lung cancer aims to control the cancer for as long as possible and to shrink the tumour down to reduce symptoms. Many trials have used chemotherapy in this situation and we know that it can help people to live longer as well as relieving symptoms.
People whose cancer cells have particular proteins (receptors) may have treatment with biological therapy drugs called erlotinib (Tarceva), gefitinib (Iressa) or crizotinib (Xalkori).
You may have radiotherapy to control symptoms such as pain or a cough. As well as radiotherapy, other treatments can relieve a blockage and reduce symptoms if you have a tumour in one of the main airways (the left or right bronchus). These treatments include
Surgery For Lung Cancer treatment
A surgical oncologist is a doctor who specializes in treating cancer using surgery. A thoracic surgeon is specially trained to perform lung cancer surgery. The goal of surgery is to completely remove the lung tumor and the nearby lymph nodes in the chest. The tumor must be removed with a surrounding border or margin of healthy lung tissue. A “negative margin” means that when the pathologist examined the lung or a piece of lung that was removed by the surgeon, no cancer was found in the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor.
- Lobectomy. The lungs have 5 lobes, 3 in the right lung and 2 in the left lung. The removal of an entire lobe of the lung in a procedure called a lobectomy is currently thought to be the most effective type of surgery, even when the lung tumor is very small.
- A wedge resection. If the surgeon cannot remove an entire lobe of the lung, the surgeon can remove the tumor, surrounded by a margin of healthy lung.
Segmentectomy. This is another way to remove the cancer when an entire lobe of the lung cannot be removed. In a - segmentectomy:- the surgeon removes the portion of the lung where the cancer developed.
- Pneumonectomy. If the tumor is close to the center of the chest, the surgeon may have to remove the entire lung.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is the use of high energy x-rays or other particles to destroy cancer cells. If you need radiation therapy, you will be asked to see a specialist called a radiation oncologist. A radiation oncologist is the doctor who specializes in giving radiation therapy to treat cancer. The most common type of radiation treatment is called external-beam radiation therapy, which is radiation given from a machine outside the body. A radiation therapy regimen, or schedule, usually consists of a specific number of treatments given over a set period of time. This can vary from just a few days of treatment to several weeks.
Like surgery, radiation therapy cannot be used to treat widespread cancer. Radiation therapy only destroys cancer cells directly in the path of the radiation beam. It also damages the healthy cells in its path. For this reason, it cannot be used to treat large areas of the body.
Sometimes, CT scans are used to plan out exactly where to direct the radiation to lower the risk of damaging healthy parts of the body. This is called intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). It is not an option for all patients, but it may be used for patients with early-stage disease and small tumors when surgery is not an option.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells, usually by ending the cancer cells’ ability to grow and divide. It has been shown to improve both the length and quality of life for people with lung cancer of all stages. Chemotherapy is given by a medical oncologist, a doctor who specializes in treating cancer with medication.
Systemic chemotherapy gets into the bloodstream to reach cancer cells throughout the body. Common ways to give chemotherapy include an intravenous (IV) tube placed into a vein using a needle or in a pill or capsule that is swallowed (orally). Most types of chemotherapy used for lung cancer are given by IV injection.
A chemotherapy regimen, or schedule, usually consists of a specific number of cycles given over a set period of time. The type of lung cancer you have, such as adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, affects which drugs are used for chemotherapy.
Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy is a treatment that targets the cancer’s specific genes, proteins, or the tissue environment that contributes to cancer growth and survival. This type of treatment blocks the growth and spread of cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy cells.
Recent studies show that not all tumors have the same targets. To find the most effective treatment, your doctor may run tests to identify the genes, proteins, and other factors in the tumor. For some lung cancers, abnormal proteins are found in unusually large amounts in the cancer cells. This helps doctors better match each patient with the most effective treatment whenever possible. In addition, many research studies are taking place now to find out more about specific molecular targets and new treatments directed at them. Learn more about the basics of targeted treatments.
For LUNG CANCER, the following types of targeted therapy may be used, particularly in clinical trials. Talk with your doctor about possible side effects for a specific medication and how they can be managed.
- Anti-angiogenesis therapy: It is focused on stopping angiogenesis, which is the process of making new blood vessels. Because a tumor needs the nutrients delivered by blood vessels to grow and spread, the goal of anti-angiogenesis therapies is to “starve” the tumor.
- Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors. Researchers have found that drugs that block EGFR may be effective for stopping or slowing the growth of lung cancer.
- Drugs that target other genetic changes. Researchers have found that targeting other genetic changes in lung tumors may help stop or slow the growth of LUNG CANCER. An example is anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors. Mutations in the ALK gene are found in about 5% of patients with LUNG CANCER. Another example are drugs that target changes in a gene called ROS1.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy, also called biologic therapy, is designed to boost the body’s natural defenses to fight the cancer. It uses materials made either by the body or in a laboratory to improve, target, or restore immune system function. For example, the PD-1 pathway may be critical in the immune system’s ability to control cancer growth. Blocking this pathway with PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies has stopped or slowed the growth of LUNG CANCER for some patients. The following drugs block this pathway:
- Atezolizumab (Tecentriq)
- Nivolumab (Opdivo)
- Pembrolizumab (Keytruda)
Side effects:
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Hairless
- Causes dry skin & irritation
- Sensitivity on the skin surface
Frequently asked questions
Q.HOW MUCH DOES LUNG CANCER TREATMENT COST IN INDIA?
A. Lung cancer treatment cost in India depends on doctors experience and hospitals facilities.
the average cost of treatment for lung cancer is 8000-20000$
Q. IS LUNG CANCER FATAL?
A.Yes, lung cancer is fatal and the majority of the people die of lung cancer every year around the globe.
Q.CAN NON-SMOKERS ALSO SUFFER FROM LUNG CANCER?
A.Lung cancer death is caused by tobacco mostly (80%). Even if it is a small number but it’s true that some people who don’t smoke can also develop lung cancer.
Q. CAN A LUNG CANCER BE DETECTED FROM X-RAY?
A.The x-ray can be used to detect cancer, but for confirmatory diagnosis, other investigations are also done.
Q. WHAT IS THE SURVIVAL RATE OF LUNG CANCER
A. If diagnosed at an early stage then the survival rate is -5 years If diagnosed in the late stage then the 5-year survival rate is 4%.
Best doctors for lung cancer treatment In India
Director , MBBS, MD, FRCP
37 Years of Experience
Gurgaon , India
- Currently associated as Director & HOD, Medical Oncology, Haematology & BMT Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon.
- One of India’s foremost Medical Oncologist.
- Performed approximately 600 transplants for various cancers, largest in India in the last 20 years and about 250 allotransplant.
Senior Consultant , DM, MD, MBBS
15 Years of Experience
Gurgaon , India
- Dr. Randeep Singh is a highly accomplished Medical Oncologist with experience of more than 15 years.
- He is proficient in managing Solid and Hemato-Lymphoid Tumours.
Chairman , MBBS, MD, DM
35 Years of Experience
Gurgaon , India
- Currently associated as a Chairman of Division of Medical & Paediatric Oncology, Haematology & Bone Marrow / Cell Transplant at Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon.
- Expertises are Treatment of organ specific cancers, Leukemias, Lymphomas and Cell Transplantation.
Best Hospitals In India for Lung Cancer treatment
Established in : 2001
Multi Specialty
Fortis Hospital Gurgaon is the flagship hospital of Fortis Group, it is one of the leading healthcare destination providing world-class integrated services to the community at large. Spread over the sprawling landscape of 11 acres with the capacity of 1000 beds, Fortis Gurgaon brings together an outstanding pool of doctors, assistants and medical staff to treat patients.
Established in : 2009
Number of Beds : 1250
Multi Specialty
Medanta hospital Gurgaon is one of the top hospitals in india. It is India’s largest multi-super-specialty hospital matching the highest standards of healthcare delivery across the world. The hospital has been founded by Dr. Naresh Trehan a cardiac surgeon who has envisioned with aim of bringing to India the highest standards of medical care along with providing integrated healthcare services to the patients and excellent services in clinical services, research, training, and education
Narayana Hospital
Narayana Superspeciality Hospital is located close to DLF Cyber City and the Delhi – Jaipur Highway; it is a world-class medical facility catering to the healthcare needs of the NCR region. Backed with latest medical infrastructure and proficient medical professionals, the hospital represents Narayana Health’s commitment to quality medical care and patient service.
The Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility; with expertly planned and well-equipped sections, including a spacious OPD area and comfortable patient rooms which allows the hospital to cater to both In-Patients and Out-Patients in equal measure. It is a medical facility providing international standard treatments.