Lung cancer: the progress of treatments
With nearly 30,000 deaths a year, lung cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in France. It most often develops without causing pain, as the lungs are not innervated. As a result, many lung cancers are diagnosed quite late, when metastases already exist. In more than 80% of cases, tobacco is the cause.
In lung cancer, the starting point is usually to look for the bronchi side, in the branches, at the level of the bronchioles. It can also be born within the alveoli, the small bags that allow gas exchanges. Cancer can also develop in the supporting tissues of the lung.
For example, when cancer is born in the bronchi, the inner face of the bronchi, the mucous membrane, is lined with a layer of hair cells on which mucus rests. This viscous liquid picks up inhaled dust particles and the lashes beat them to the top.
If this mucous membrane is constantly attacked by toxic products, this cleaning mechanism is destroyed. The mucous membrane thickens and the lung can no longer self-clean. Harmful particles accumulate and enter the lining until they cause cancer. The cells no longer know how to repair themselves, they multiply anarchically thus forming a cluster of cells, it is the tumor. It can even obstruct the passage of the airways.
There are other factors other than tobacco such as asbestos, pollution, chromium, nickel, tar and radioactive gas called radon. But there are cases where the cause is not detected.
Since May 2016, tenon Hospital in Paris has set up a rapid diagnostic consultation for lung cancer.This specific management allows patients to be given the right treatment quickly and thus to alleviate their anxiety.
"Patients are seen in less than a week, based on the request of the treating physician. Not all patients who are seen have lung cancer, but this consultation allows a quick assessment to begin with a series of tests," explains Professor Marie Wislez, onco-pneumologue.
Scan, respiratory examination, bronchial fibroscopy, MRI... without this specific organization, the patient should go to the hospital several times. "For the quality of life of patients, it is important not to hang around between exams, to feel supervised... Once there is doubt, this period is very difficult to live with and people prefer to know. It's easier to fight when you know than when you stay in a period of doubt," says Prof Wislez.
Each week, six to eight patients benefit from this rapid diagnosis. Since the opening of this consultation, lung cancer has been diagnosed in 59% of cases.
Pulmonary GPS, a new method of diagnosis
GPS to better diagnose and treat lung cancer
When the tumors are deep, biopsy is difficult. Recently, a new tool has been used to guide the surgeon to the tumour so that he can take samples. This new tool is called pulmonary GPS.
Pulmonary GPS is reserved for the deepest lesions of the lung. By exploring the lungs with a probe, the doctor allows a computer to reconstruct the patient's bronchi in three dimensions.
Thanks to the original scanner, the doctor can locate the tumor in the 3D image. Then, the computer calculates the path to take to reach it. Once the target is reached, the pulmonologist can take the samples, which will then be analysed in the laboratory.
In lung cancer, the starting point is usually to look for the bronchi side, in the branches, at the level of the bronchioles. It can also be born within the alveoli, the small bags that allow gas exchanges. Cancer can also develop in the supporting tissues of the lung.
For example, when cancer is born in the bronchi, the inner face of the bronchi, the mucous membrane, is lined with a layer of hair cells on which mucus rests. This viscous liquid picks up inhaled dust particles and the lashes beat them to the top.
If this mucous membrane is constantly attacked by toxic products, this cleaning mechanism is destroyed. The mucous membrane thickens and the lung can no longer self-clean. Harmful particles accumulate and enter the lining until they cause cancer. The cells no longer know how to repair themselves, they multiply anarchically thus forming a cluster of cells, it is the tumor. It can even obstruct the passage of the airways.
There are other factors other than tobacco such as asbestos, pollution, chromium, nickel, tar and radioactive gas called radon. But there are cases where the cause is not detected.
Since May 2016, tenon Hospital in Paris has set up a rapid diagnostic consultation for lung cancer.This specific management allows patients to be given the right treatment quickly and thus to alleviate their anxiety.
"Patients are seen in less than a week, based on the request of the treating physician. Not all patients who are seen have lung cancer, but this consultation allows a quick assessment to begin with a series of tests," explains Professor Marie Wislez, onco-pneumologue.
Scan, respiratory examination, bronchial fibroscopy, MRI... without this specific organization, the patient should go to the hospital several times. "For the quality of life of patients, it is important not to hang around between exams, to feel supervised... Once there is doubt, this period is very difficult to live with and people prefer to know. It's easier to fight when you know than when you stay in a period of doubt," says Prof Wislez.
Each week, six to eight patients benefit from this rapid diagnosis. Since the opening of this consultation, lung cancer has been diagnosed in 59% of cases.
Pulmonary GPS, a new method of diagnosis
GPS to better diagnose and treat lung cancer
When the tumors are deep, biopsy is difficult. Recently, a new tool has been used to guide the surgeon to the tumour so that he can take samples. This new tool is called pulmonary GPS.
Pulmonary GPS is reserved for the deepest lesions of the lung. By exploring the lungs with a probe, the doctor allows a computer to reconstruct the patient's bronchi in three dimensions.
Thanks to the original scanner, the doctor can locate the tumor in the 3D image. Then, the computer calculates the path to take to reach it. Once the target is reached, the pulmonologist can take the samples, which will then be analysed in the laboratory.